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Development of a Common European Euler Code for Helicopter Rotors

Objective



Objectives and content
The research deals with the development and validation of a Common European method capable of analysing the rotor flow environment by solving the 3D Euler equations. This subject is being addressed because of the industrial need for a unique rotor aerodynamic prediction tool able to capture rotational phenomena, such as blade tip and wake vortices, and to predict correctly the unsteady blade pressures over a range of different flight conditions, from hover to high forward speed. Of course, this research does not directly address regions of the rotor disk in which the flowfield is dominated by viscous effects.
The development of a Common European Euler code for helicopter rotors is indeed a challenging objective and a sign of real cooperation in today's European Union. The proposal clearly outlines the industrial objectives and the international state-of-the-art which motivate the need for the proposed research effort. The experience and expertise gained by the partnership in past BRITE-EURAM cooperative research projects (DACRO, HELISHAPE, ECARP) ensures that all of the technical objectives of the project will be achieved. The research approach proposed for this project is based on the partnership's HELISHAPE-Task 2 experience on common code development. This approach follows the complete software life cycle from the user's requirements to the user's acceptance of the product. The technical programme is organized in tasks and subtasks with clear intermediate objectives and responsibilities. A first version of the Euler code will be available after 18 months and the baseline code will be fully validated by month n°30. An improved and extended version of the code will be released at the end of the three-year effort.
The major outcome of this project will be a well documented, fully validated Common European Euler code for helicopter rotors in hover and forward flight. This software package will put the helicopter manufacturers in a position to improve their rotor designs with benefits to their products' safety, efficiency, and environmental impact.
The long term goal is the development of a 3D Navier-Stokes code for the simulation of the unsteady viscous flow around the helicopter rotor thus allowing the prediction of rotor torque. This can be accomplished with a significantly reduced risk by using, as starting point, the Common Euler code available at the end of the proposed effort. The expert team of researchers which will be forged by this project will guarantee Europe's competitiveness in state-of-the-art simulation tools of rotorcraft aerodynamics.

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Funding Scheme

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali ScpA
EU contribution
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Address
Via Maiorise
81043 Capua
Italy

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Participants (11)

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Last update: 15 October 1998

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/BRPR960162

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