Integrated Three-Dimensional Airloads and Stresses on Lift-Offset Coaxial Rotors at Extreme Speeds

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This paper investigates the three-dimensional (3-D) dynamic stresses on a modern four-bladed hingeless coaxial rotor—inspired by the gross dimensions of the Sikorsky S-97 Raider at extreme flight speeds. The stresses are obtained using integrated 3-D (I3D) aeromechanical analysis—defined as the coupling of 3-D finite element-based structural dynamics with 3-D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes–based fluid dynamics. The coupling was carried out with the University of Maryland/U.S. Army structural dynamic solver X3D and the U.S. Army CREATETM–AV Helios suite of fluid dynamic solvers. The new structural analysis is both enabled and driven by advanced high-performance computing, parallel and scalable solvers, high-order 3-D brick finite elements unified with multibody dynamics, integrated aeromechanics, and a special 3D-to-1D fluid–structure interface that refines the power of the delta-coupling procedure while retaining the advantages of existing computational fluid dynamics mesh motion schemes. The analysis is carried out at 220 knots (μ=0.5)—the cruise speed of the S-97 Raider without reduced tip speed—in order to study the stresses in extreme conditions. At such high speeds, the blade lift is dominated by the complex tip vortex roll-up, and the pitching moments and drag are dominated by the unsteady transonic shocks at the tip. Interesting 3-D dynamic stress patterns are revealed all across the blade that have remained invisible until now since they could neither be predicted nor measured in flight. The key conclusion is that such high-fidelity analysis is now indeed possible and, in fact, necessary to get deeper insights into the dynamics of coaxial rotors at extreme speeds.