Graduation Semester and Year
Spring 2025
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Brian H. Dennis
Abstract
A computational study was conducted to investigate the effects of vertical and horizontal canard placements relative to the fuselage reference line (FRL) on boundary layer formation over the sweepback and tapered wing of a representative canard aircraft model, with a focus on variations in canard span ratio. The aircraft model was developed in CAD based on experimental data from NASA's research on canard configurations.
Three vertical canard positions were examined—mounted at +0.185, 0, and –0.185 units relative to the FRL—to evaluate their aerodynamic influence on the main wing. As the –0.185 (low-mounted) configuration exhibited negligible aerodynamic impact, this thesis focuses on the +0.185 (high-mounted) and 0 (mid-mounted) canard positions.
The study aims to assess the enhancement in aerodynamic performance associated with varying the canard span. In particular, it explores the interaction between canard span ratio and wing aerodynamics. Boundary layer behavior was prioritized in this analysis, with seven span-wise stations—located at 25%, 30%, 50%, 60%, 75%, 90%, and 100% of the wing semi-span—used to evaluate the flow characteristics on the wing under different canard span configurations.
Flow behavior was analyzed at angles of attack ranging from -7 ° to 22°, across transonic Mach numbers of 0.7, 0.95, and 1.2, corresponding to their respective Reynolds numbers. Post-processing techniques were employed to visualize and quantify changes in the boundary layer and overall aerodynamic performance.
Disciplines
Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics | Computational Engineering
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Gandla, Venkata Sai Bhanudeep, "Computational Modeling to Determine the Effects of Canard Size and Position on Aerodynamic Performance of a 3-D Canard-Wing Configuration" (2025). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses. 1034.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/mechaerospace_theses/1034