Analysis of Aerodynamic Characteristics of Different Tail Configurations of Compound High-speed Helicopters

Abstract

When a compound high-speed helicopter is in forward flight, there are serious aerodynamic disturbances among the fuselage components, among which the tail configuration has a greater influence on its aerodynamic performance. To study the influence of different tail configurations on aerodynamic performance, the flow field of a compound high-speed helicopter in forward flight was numerically simulated based on the commercial software XFlow. Firstly, the ROBIN standard helicopter fuselage model was calculated to verify the scientific validity of the method. Then, the aerodynamic data of a high-speed helicopter was analyzed for different tail configurations in forward flight with different angles of attack and yaw. The results show that the V-tail configuration has the lowest lift and resistance coefficients and the best longitudinal manoeuvrability and stall characteristics; the conventional tail configuration has the highest lift-to-resistance ratio and the fastest wake decay; the lateral stability of the V-tail and conventional tail configurations is weaker than that of the H-tail and fixed tail configurations; and the presence of the vertical tail in the tail increases the pressure value around the wing surface.