Application of Higher Order Spatially Accurate Schemes to Rotors in Hover

Abstract

The accuracy of the calculation of the tip vortex magnitude and the trajectory is very important in rotor calculations, especially in hover where it is the source of the induced velocity that in turn affects the aerodynamic loads. Lower order schemes do not give results of required accuracy due to the excessive diffusive error on practical grids. As a result, the use of spatially accurate schemes, with less diffusion error, is of prime importance in increasing the accuracy of the solution. In this study, two spatially high order schemes (Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory 7 th (WENO7) and it 5 th order counterpart (WENO5) are studied. Results are presented for performance characteristics and flow field structures. It is found that WENO7 scheme outperforms the 5 th order scheme, provided an adequately refined grid with modest stretching factors is used.