Improving Horizontal Stabilizer Performance Using Aeroelastic Tailoring

Horizontal stabilizers fitted to conventional passenger jets typically exhibit increased washout under aerodynamic load. Such aeroelastic behavior reduces the lift generated by the stabilizers and the achievable lift-curve slope. In order to satisfy control and stability requirements, this loss of performance is often compensated by increasing the size and structural stiffness of the stabilizers, both of which add to the overall aircraft weight. This work explores using aeroelastic tailoring to minimize such a performance deficit by considering the optimal skin layup for inducing a favorable static aeroelastic response. This paper reports on the design and vibration testing of a wind tunnel prototype of such construction, intended to experimentally demonstrate the improvement achieved in the forward, backward and zero-sweep configurations.