Rotor Dynamics Modeling Using Coupled Multibody Dynamics And A GPU-Accelerated Vortex Particle Solver

Abstract

This paper presents a rotor dynamics modeling framework developed to investigate the behavior of an experimental rotor system. The framework integrates two in-house solvers: a Multibody Dynamics code and a GPU-accelerated vortex particle method, enabling efficient and accurate simulation of coupled aeromechanical systems. The multibody solver utilizes a rigid-body core formulation and employs blade element theory, along with airfoil lookup tables, to compute aerodynamic loads. The vortex particle wake model incorporates the Fast Multipole Method for computational efficiency. The viscous diffusion is simulated using Particle Strength Exchange and Core Spreading techniques. Simulation predictions show good agreement with UH-60 experimental data. The resulting framework provides a fast, accurate, and scalable tool for mid-fidelity rotorcraft wake simulations.