Wind tunnel test investigation on buffeting characteristics of horizontal tail of commercial aircraft in low-speed cruise configuration

In this paper, a wind tunnel test method is proposed to analyze the buffeting of the horizontal tail. By installing subminiature pulsating pressure sensors on the wing and horizontal tail surface of a commercial aircraft with conventional layout, the time domain and frequency domain data of the pulsating pressure on the wing and horizontal tail surface are measured and analyzed. The test results show the characteristics of fluctuating pressure and surface pressure distribution under the influence of the wing wake and its own flow characteristics on different sections of the horizontal tail. The results show that the structural forced vibration of the horizontal tail is induced by the random fluctuating pressure excitation generated by the strong separated flow of the wing at medium and small angles of attack, and the dominant frequency of the fluctuating pressure on the horizontal tail surface is close to that of the vortex on the main wing. At large angles of attack, the horizontal tail is no longer disturbed by the wake of the main wing, its fluctuating pressure characteristics are related to its own separation characteristics, and the power spectral density of the fluctuating pressure decreases gradually along the spanwise direction of the horizontal tail.