Static Analysis of an All-Movable Rudder with Rotational Clearance based on Contact Algorithm

The air rudder system is essential to the performance and safety of the aircraft, and the basis of the research about it is to establish a suitable mechanical model. To accurately simulate the contact behavior with gaps in the actual process, the contact algorithm is used to construct the connection between the support and the rudder’s contact surface based on the finite element model, and the mechanical relationship between the two is analyzed. The results show that under different gaps and different friction coefficients, the contact algorithm has high accuracy and credibility for describing the mechanical behavior between the support and the rudder and the presentation of the contact state. This article fully demonstrates the advantages of the contact algorithm in solving the problem of modeling with gaps, and can be a reference for the research of other similar issues.