COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES OF HELICOPTER AERODYNAMICS

Abstract

The present research concerns the helicopter aerodynamics and the blade-vortex interaction phenomenon. The computational studies are carried out using the large-eddy simulation approach for subsonic incompressible flow of Reynolds number Re=1.3x106. The helicopter aerodynamics is dominated by the blade-vortex interaction (BVI) phenomenon which is responsible for noise and vibrations. During the helicopter flight, a tip-vortex filament is formed and its interaction with the advancing blade causes the blade-vortex interaction phenomenon. The study shows that the blade-vortex interaction causes oscillations of the aerodynamic coefficients. Due to the turbulence phenomenon, the oscillations exhibit a non-linear behaviour.