Mid-fidelity numerical approach to tiltrotor aerodynamics

Abstract

The study of complex aerodynamics that characterise tiltrotors represents a challenge for computational fluid dynamics tools. URANS numerical solvers are typically used to explore the aerodynamic features that characterise the different flight conditions of these aircraft, but their computational cost limits their applications to a few vehicle configurations. The present work explores the capabilities of the new mid-fidelity aerodynamic code DUST, based on vortex particle method for wake modelling, to investigate the performance and flow physics of tiltrotors. A thorough assessment of the code capabilities was performed by comparison of numerical results with high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data. This thorough comparison showed that the mid-fidelity numerical approach implemented in DUST is suitable for capturing flow physics related to the complex aerodynamic interactions between the proprotors and the wing along with the entire flight envelope of a tiltrotor.