Formulation of Aerodynamic Forces on Helicopters in Non Uniform Flow with Scale Model Tests : Ground Effects.

J.B. Paquet (1) , J.P. Bourez (1) , S. Morgand (1)

1 ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab [Lille]

The simulation of helicopter recovery on a frigate is a very complex problem due to the non uniform flow around the frigate deck and the aeroelastic characteristics of the rotor. Small scale tests with helicopters are generally not in complete similarity and might be expensive. The number of state variables influencing the aerodynamic forces are too numerous so it is not possible to characterize all the configurations. So these tests with a small scale radio controlled helicopter attached to a balance and not flying are done as an attempt to measure the differences on the aerodynamic torque due to the non uniform flow around a frigate. To validate the experimental procedure, measurements are done with and without a ground, and flow visualizations are carried out. The forces measurements of the ground effects correspond to known results and the trajectories of vortices shed at the blade tips are extracted from the visualizations.

Mots clés: HELICOPTER; GROUND EFFECT; SCALE MODEL; FLOW VISUALIZATIONS; ROTOR; FORMULATION

Domaines: Dynamique des Fluides [physics.flu-dyn]

J.B. Paquet, J.P. Bourez, S. Morgand. Formulation of Aerodynamic Forces on Helicopters in Non Uniform Flow with Scale Model Tests : Ground Effects.. 49th International Symposium of Applied Aerodynamics, Mar 2014, LILLE, France. ⟨hal-01059055⟩