Open Access

ARTICLE

Numerical Simulation of the Wake Generated by a Helicopter Rotor in Icing Conditions

Guozhi Li¹, Yihua Cao^2,*

1 Institute of Systems Engineering, Aviation Industry Development Research Center of China, Beijing, 100029, China
2 School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China

* Corresponding Author: Yihua Cao. Email:

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2021, 17(2), 235-252. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2021.014814

Received 01 November 2020; Accepted 20 January 2021; Issue published 02 April 2021

Abstract

The wake generated by the rotor of a helicopter can exert a strong interference effect on the fuselage and the horizontal/vertical tail. The occurrence of icing on the rotor can obviously make this interplay more complex. In the present study, numerical simulation is used to analyze the rotor wake in icing conditions. In order to validate the overall mathematical/numerical method, the results are compared with similar data relating to other tests; then, different simulations are conducted considering helicopter forward flight velocities of 0, 10, 20, 50, and 80 knots and various conditions in terms of air temperature (atmospheric temperature degrading from −12°C to −20°C or from −20°C to −26°C). The results indicate that the rotor aerodynamic performance (i.e., the lift-to-drag ratio distribution of the rotor disc) drops significantly once the rotor undergoes ice accretion. More importantly, the icing exerts a different influence of the wake dynamics depending on the atmospheric conditions. Interestingly, the rime-ice firstly occurs on the inner portion of rotor blades and then diffuses outward along the blade radial direction with the decrease in atmospheric temperature.

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