NASA Technical Reports Server (NASA) · 1989 · 13 citations · 0 references
EngineeringAerospace EngineeringComputational EngineeringAerodynamicsComputational Fluid DynamicsFluid DynamicsAeroelastic ModelingComputational AerodynamicsExternal AerodynamicsRotorcraft AerodynamicsUnsteady AerodynamicsWake Field AnalysisAeroelastic AnalysisFlow DistributionForward Flight AerodynamicsRotor AerodynamicsRotor Wake DynamicsState VariablesWake AnalysisWake Modeling
An unsteady, three-dimensional induced-flow model is applied to compute the induced-flow distribution of a rotor in forward flight, and numerical results are compared against LDV measurements for both time-averaged and unsteady induced flow at the disk. The former flow shows good agreement with measured data, except just behind the pylon at the lowest advanced ratio and near the blade tips for rectangular blades at high advance ratios. The method performs as well or better than other codes that have been applied to these data, takes less computing time, and is better suited to aeroelastic analysis. Results with only four harmonics and 15 state variables converge to all fundamental characteristics of the time-averaged flow.