Investigation of Slotted Tip Parameters on the Aerodynamic Characteristic of Helicopter Rotor

Abstract

Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the effect of helicopter rotor tip vortex alleviation using a slotted tip, and effects of parameters involving location, number, aperture of the slot on tip vortex structure and aerodynamic performance are analyzed in detail. The flow field of hovering helicopter rotor is simulated by solving Navier-Stokes equations in the rotating coordinate system. Finite volume method combined with overset unstructured grids algorithm are adopted. The calculation of inviscid fluxes uses second-order central scheme with artificial dissipation, and turbulence model utilizes Spalart-Allmaras model. Simulation results show that the location of the slot has little effect on tip vortex alleviation. The larger the number and aperture of the slot, the better the effect of slotted tips weakening tip vortex. Lift coefficient of helicopter rotor with a slotted tip increases slightly compared with that without slots, while power coefficient increases drastically.