Numerical Study of HVAB Rotor Using a Mixed Mesh Flow Solver

Abstract

In the present study, numerical simulations of the HVAB rotor in hover were carried out using a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes CFD flow solver based on unstructured mixed meshes. The γ-Re_θt-CF^+ model was adopted to predict of laminar-turbulent transition phenomena involving crossflow induced transitions. To capture vortex with high resolution, the ESWENO-P scheme was used for the computation of the inviscid fluxes on Cartesian meshes. A parametric study of the effect of turbulence intensity on the aerodynamic performance of the PSP rotor was first carried out. The influence of the NFAC facility wall on aerodynamic performance was also investigated. Then the aerodynamic characteristics of the HVAB rotor in hover were simulated with the given sets of trim angles. The predicted results, including the aerodynamic performance of the rotor in terms of thrust coefficient, torque coefficient, and figure of merit were analyzed. In addition, flow characteristics such as transition onset locations and tip vortex trajectories were also investigated.