CFD based positioning and calibration of helicopter air data system

Abstract

This paper presents air data system positioning and calibration activities of T625 Gökbey helicopter via computational fluid dynamics analyses. Air data boom and pitot static probe placement is performed by exploring the critical flight conditions including the effect of main rotor downwash and fuselage aerodynamic characteristics. CFD analyses are performed for all possible conditions covering certification flight envelope and feasible locations are defined for all probes. Main rotor downwash is modeled by using actuator disk model in Siemens STAR CCM+ and ANSYS Fluent together with fuselage. Pressure error correction (PEC) flight tests are performed and flight data is compared with CFD.