Flaps are used to increase an airplane's lift and to adjust its stability and maneuverability. This study shows an application of STAR-CD, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, to an investigation of the dynamic effects of flap deflection on the lift, drag and moment coefficients, as well as on the location of the center of pressure. For this study, a plain flap was modeled with a moving mesh and was attached to a NACA 0012 airfoil and a wing of a general aviation aircraft for a 2D and 3D investigation, respectively. In addition, the flap deflection rates were varied to investigate their effect on the flow field and the airfoil's stability characteristics. The results from the analyses were ultimately used to prove that commercial CFD software is a viable option to investigate the stability and control characteristics of an aircraft.
","abstract_html":"<p>Flaps are used to increase an airplane's lift and to adjust its stability and maneuverability. This study shows an application of STAR-CD, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, to an investigation of the dynamic effects of flap deflection on the lift, drag and moment coefficients, as well as on the location of the center of pressure. For this study, a plain flap was modeled with a moving mesh and was attached to a NACA 0012 airfoil and a wing of a general aviation aircraft for a 2D and 3D investigation, respectively. In addition, the flap deflection rates were varied to investigate their effect on the flow field and the airfoil's stability characteristics. The results from the analyses were ultimately used to prove that commercial CFD software is a viable option to investigate the stability and control characteristics of an aircraft.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Moerchel, Alexander"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Hany Nakhla","Eric Perrell","Axel Rohde"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-07-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-07-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:08Z","subjects":["dynamics","flap deflection","aerodynamics","airplane wing","computational fluid dynamics","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Aerospace Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/148","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Hany Nakhla","Eric Perrell","Axel Rohde"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Moerchel, Alexander"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["dynamics","flap deflection","aerodynamics","airplane wing","computational fluid dynamics","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Aerospace Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/148"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Flaps are used to increase an airplane's lift and to adjust its stability and maneuverability. This study shows an application of STAR-CD, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, to an investigation of the dynamic effects of flap deflection on the lift, drag and moment coefficients, as well as on the location of the center of pressure. For this study, a plain flap was modeled with a moving mesh and was attached to a NACA 0012 airfoil and a wing of a general aviation aircraft for a 2D and 3D investigation, respectively. In addition, the flap deflection rates were varied to investigate their effect on the flow field and the airfoil's stability characteristics. The results from the analyses were ultimately used to prove that commercial CFD software is a viable option to investigate the stability and control characteristics of an aircraft.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Investigation of the Dynamic Effects of Flap Deflection on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Airplane Wing Using Computational Fluid Dynamics"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Hany Nakhla","Eric Perrell","Axel Rohde"],"dc:creator":["Moerchel, Alexander"],"dc:description.abstract":["Flaps are used to increase an airplane's lift and to adjust its stability and maneuverability. This study shows an application of STAR-CD, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, to an investigation of the dynamic effects of flap deflection on the lift, drag and moment coefficients, as well as on the location of the center of pressure. For this study, a plain flap was modeled with a moving mesh and was attached to a NACA 0012 airfoil and a wing of a general aviation aircraft for a 2D and 3D investigation, respectively. In addition, the flap deflection rates were varied to investigate their effect on the flow field and the airfoil's stability characteristics. The results from the analyses were ultimately used to prove that commercial CFD software is a viable option to investigate the stability and control characteristics of an aircraft.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/db-theses/148"],"dc:subject":["dynamics","flap deflection","aerodynamics","airplane wing","computational fluid dynamics","Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics","Aerospace Engineering"],"dc:title":["An Investigation of the Dynamic Effects of Flap Deflection on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Airplane Wing Using Computational Fluid Dynamics"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:26:08Z"}