Vortex Approach for Downwash and Outwash of Tandem Rotors in Ground Effect

Abstract

A vortex-based approach is employed to predict the downwash and outwash of a tandem rotor in ground effect and provide an understanding of its wake. The aerodynamic loads of the blades are represented through a panel method, and the behavior of the wake is captured by a viscous vortex particle method. The viscous effects of the ground are accounted for by a viscous boundary model satisfying the no-slip and nonpenetration boundary conditions. The method is first validated for an isolated full-scale Lynx tail rotor and a 172-mm-diameter-scale rotor in ground effect. The results show that the predicted trajectories of the tip vortices and the radial velocity profiles compare favorably with experiments and published computational fluid dynamics results. The results for model CH-47D are then compared with experiments for the downwash and outwash of the tandem rotor. As opposed to the isolated single rotor, a radial outward expansion in the overlapping area is observed, and the peak and the corresponding vertical distance of the velocity maximum of the radial outwash flow for the tandem rotor are larger. Moreover, the rotational direction of the tandem rotor leads to a wake with several vortical interactions resulting in different outwashes on the port and starboard sides.