Unsteady Aerodynamic Analysis and Wake Simulation of Helicopter Rotors using the Time-Domain Panel Method

Abstract

An unsteady panel method based on potential flow theory is developed for unsteady aerodynamic analysis of helicopter rotors. The panel method uses a piecewise constant source and doublet singularities in the solution. This potential-based panel method is based on the Dirichlet boundary condition coupled with a time-stepping method. The proposed method uses a time-stepping loop to simulate the unsteady motion of helicopter rotors. A free wake model is used for the wake simulation of a helicopter rotor. The proposed method is validated by comparing our results with experimental data. The incompressible results of the proposed method for helicopter rotors are in good agreement with the experimental data for hovering and forward flight. The proposed method can be used for practical applications such as aerodynamic designs and the analysis of various helicopter rotor configurations.