ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0003-4243-5697

Graduation Semester and Year

2021

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

First Advisor

Dudley E Smith

Second Advisor

Mark E Dreier

Abstract

Rotorcraft performance modeling is of high interest with multiple industry codes in existence, many of which are high-fidelity and are comprehensive in the analyses that are achievable. Along with the high-fidelity and the comprehensive nature of the industry codes comes an equally high level of complexity in the inputs required to extract meaningful results. The ever-increasing fidelity in the existing codes creates a need for an analysis code that is built to be highly flexible, designed from the top down and implemented from the bottom up in a structured format. The Rotor Performance Model (RPM) was developed to provide high-fidelity performance analysis options without the cost of highly complex input parameters for the rotor. To date, the code was developed with the goal of being well documented, modular, and physics-based to provide the use of macroscopic rotor input parameters and the framework to build upon with future work – all without the need for a complete re-work of the code infrastructure. With the implementation of the dynamic inflow models of Pitt-Peters, and Peters et.al., combined with a hybrid periodic shooting/Newton-Raphson technique, the blade motion trim time and closure of the thrust/induced velocity has been accelerated in the current analysis program without the necessity of a wealth of rotor input data. Significant results include nearly identical results from theory and the RPM code for the inflow velocity in hover and forward airspeed and good qualitative and quantitative power required calculated values between analytical three-term equations, the RPM code, and test data. Additionally, the RPM code allows for modeling of a trimmed rotor using control other than lateral cyclic.

Keywords

Rotorcraft performance models, Rotorcraft analyses

Disciplines

Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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