Numerical Simulation of Aerodynamic Interaction Effects in Coaxial Compound Helicopters

Abstract

The so-called coaxial compound helicopter features two rigid coaxial rotors, and possesses high-speed capabilities. Nevertheless, the small separation of the coaxial rotors causes severe aerodynamic interactions, which require careful analysis. In the present work, the aerodynamic interaction between the various helicopter components is investigated by means of a numerical method considering both hover and forward flight conditions. While a sliding mesh method is used to deal with the rotating coaxial rotors, the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are solved for the flow field. The Caradonna & Tung (CT) rotor and Harrington-2 coaxial rotor are considered to validate the numerical method. The results show that the aerodynamic interaction of the two rigid coaxial rotors significantly influences hover’s induced velocity and pressure distribution. In addition, the average thrust of an isolated coaxial rotor is smaller than that of the corresponding isolated single rotor. Compared with the isolated coaxial rotor, the existence of the fuselage results in an increment in the thrust of the rotors. Furthermore, these interactions between the components of the considered coaxial compound helicopter decay with an increase in the advance ratio.