Numerical Simulation of Unsteady Flow Around Forward Flight Helicopter with Coaxial Rotors

Three-dimensional unsteady Euler equations are numerically solved to simulate the unsteady flows around forward flight helicopter with coaxial rotors based on unstructured dynamic overset grids. The performances of the two coaxial rotors both become worse because of the aerodynamic interaction between them, and the influence of the top rotor on the bottom rotor is greater than that of the bottom rotor on the top rotor. The downwash velocity at the bottom rotor plane is much larger than that at the top rotor plane, and the downwash velocity at the top rotor plane is a little larger than that at an individual rotor plane. The downwash velocity and thrust coefficient both become larger when the collective angle of blades is added. When the spacing between the two coaxial rotors increases, the thrust coefficient of the top rotor increases, but the total thrust coefficient reduces a little, because the decrease of the bottom rotor thrust coefficient is larger than the increase of the top rotor thrust coefficient.

Global optimization for ducted coaxial-rotors aircraft based on Kriging model and improved particle swarm optimization algorithm

To improve the operational efficiency of global optimization in engineering, Kriging model was established to simplify the mathematical model for calculations. Ducted coaxial-rotors aircraft was taken as an example and Fluent software was applied to the virtual prototype simulations. Through simulation sample points, the total lift of the ducted coaxial-rotors aircraft was obtained. The Kriging model was then constructed, and the function was fitted. Improved particle swarm optimization(PSO) was also utilized for the global optimization of the Kriging model of the ducted coaxial-rotors aircraft for the determination of optimized global coordinates. Finally, the optimized results were simulated by Fluent. The results show that the Kriging model and the improved PSO algorithm significantly improve the lift performance of ducted coaxial-rotors aircraft and computer operational efficiency.

Research on a combinatorial control method for coaxial rotor aircraft based on sliding mode

Aiming at the position and attitude tracking of coaxial rotor aircraft(CRA),this paper proposes a combinatorial control method of sliding mode control(SMC)coupled with proportional-integralderivative control(PIDC).Considering the complete description of flight dynamics,aerodynamics and airflow interference,the dynamical model of CRA is established.The dynamical model is simplified according to the actual flight,then the simplified dynamical model is divided into two subsystems:a fully-actuated subsystem and an under-actuated subsystem.The controller of the fully-actuated subsystem consists of a SMC controller coupled with a rate bounded PIDC controller,while the controller of the under-actuated subsystem is composed of a SMC controller.The sliding manifold is defined by combining the position and velocity tracking errors of the state variables for each subsystem.Lyapunov stability theory is used to verify the stability of the sliding mode controller,which ensures that all state trajectories of the system can reach and stay on the sliding mode surface,the uncertainty and external interference of the model are compensated.Simulation and experiment compared with the conventional PIDC are carried out,the results demonstrate the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed control method of this paper.

Numerical investigation of full scale coaxial main rotor aerodynamics in hover and vertical descent

The original free vortex wake model was used for numerical investigation.Calculation of the aerodynamic characteristics in hover and vertical descent modes in the range of vertical descent speed of 0–30 m/s including the Vortex Ring State(VRS)area was performed.The calculations were carried out under the condition of variable blade pitch angle values providing a fixed timeaverage thrust value.Visualization data of free vortex wake shapes,flow structures,and velocity fields were obtained and analyzed.The time-dependences of the rotor’s thrust and torque coefficients were obtained and analyzed.The obtained data allows determining the boundaries of the VRS area by various criteria such as rotor thrust and torque pulsations,growth of rotor power consumption relative to the hover,growth of rotor induced velocities relative to the hover,and growth of the required rotor blade pitch angles values.The results of the study are compared with experimental and calculated data of other authors and can significantly supplement the available results of experimental and computational studies in this area.

Flight dynamics modeling and analysis for a Mars helicopter

Flight dynamics modeling for the Mars helicopter faces great challenges.Aerodynamic modeling of coaxial rotor with high confidence and high computational efficiency is a major difficulty for the field.This paper builds an aerodynamic model of coaxial rotor in the extremely thin Martian atmosphere using the viscous vortex particle method.The aerodynamic forces and flow characteristics of rigid coaxial rotor are computed and analyzed.Meanwhile,a high fidelity aerodynamic surrogate model is built to improve the computational efficiency of the flight dynamics model.Results in this paper reveal that rigid coaxial rotor can bring the Mars helicopter sufficient controllability but result in obvious instability and control couplings in forward flight.This highlights the great differences in flight dynamics characteristics compared with conventional helicopters on Earth.