Computational Study of Flow Interactions over a Close Coupled Canard-Wing on Fighter

<p>There have been many attempts to improve the flying performance of a fighter. By modifying the flow that occurs along the fuselage is expected to improve the performance of the aircraft. One of the indicators of combat aircraft performance is the ability to perform maneuver movement. Adding a canard as forewing on the fighter wing configuration is considered capable of raising the ability in maneuver movement. The use of canard-delta pairs will affect the performance and aerodynamic characteristics of the plane. Wings and canards with delta configuration will make the rolled-up vortex as a lifting force producer on the aircraft. The vortex core formed from the canard and the main wing will interact with each other in maintaining the presence of lift. So, the configuration of the canard and the main wing pairs becomes very important in generating flow interaction patterns. In this research will be analyzed the effect of canard position on aerodynamic character due to the interaction of the flow that occurred. By observing the flow visualization and the aerodynamic forces that occur using computational fluid dynamics techniques (CFD) will get the optimal configuration of the canard position to improve performance fighter aircraft. From the results, obtained canard can increase lift force up to 12%. While the optimum canard position configuration is in front of the main wing of ¼ - ½ the length of the canard chord and has a parallel height of up to ½ canard thick can delay the occurrence of separation up to 5-10 degrees from the maximum angle of attack.</p>