Matching Items (2)
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- All Subjects: Helicopters
- Creators: Wells, Valana
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
The purpose of this investigation is to computationally investigate instabilities appearing in the wake of a simulated helicopter rotor. Existing data suggests further understanding of these instabilities may yield design changes to the rotor blades to reduce the acoustic signature and improve the aerodynamic efficiencies of the aircraft. Test cases of a double-bladed and single-bladed rotor have been run to investigate the causes and types of wake instabilities, as well as compare them to the short wave, long wave, and mutual inductance modes proposed by Widnall[2]. Evaluation of results revealed several perturbations appearing in both single and double-bladed wakes, the origin of which was unknown and difficult to trace. This made the computations not directly comparable to theoretical results, and drawing into question the physical flight conditions being modeled. Nonetheless, they displayed a wake structure highly sensitive to both computational and physical disturbances; thus extreme care must be taken in constructing grids and applying boundary conditions when doing wake computations to ensure results relevant to the complex and dynamic flight conditions of physical aircraft are generated.
ContributorsDrake, Nicholas Spencer (Author) / Wells, Valana (Thesis director) / Squires, Kyle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
One of the leading concerns regarding the commercial and military applications of rotary wing powered vehicles is the issue of blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise occurring during forward descent. This impulsive noise-generating phenomenon occurs due to the close proximity and interference between the main rotor blades and the wake vortices generated by the rotor blades from previous revolutions. Throughout the descent phase of a helicopter in forward flight, the rotating blades pass through these induced vortices, thus generating an impulsive "slap" noise that is characteristic of the common sound associated with helicopter flight among the general population. Therefore, parameterization of the variables of interest that affect BVI noise generation will allow for thorough analysis of the origins of the noise and open pathways for innovation that may offer significant improvements in acoustic performance. Gaining an understanding of the factors that govern the intensity of the BVI acoustic signature provides a strong analytical and experimental basis for enhanced rotor blade design.
ContributorsAhlf, Rick James (Author) / Dahm, Werner (Thesis director) / Wells, Valana (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05