CFD Analysis of an Isolated Main Helicopter Rotor for a Hovering Flight at Varying RPM

Abstract

The main objective of this simulation is to analyze the flow around an isolated main helicopter rotor at various main rotor speed of 800 RPM, 600 RPM and 400 RPM at an angle of attack of 8 degrees using blades of the Eurocopter AS350B3, which uses the blade profile of standard ONERA OA209 airfoil during hovering flight conditions. The comparison of the stability in terms of wake formations and vorticity has been included to visualize an optimum RPM for hovering of the helicopter mentioned. For the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis, the moving reference frame (MRF) method with the standard viscous k-ε turbulent flow model was used for modeling the rotating rotor operating in a hovering flight condition.