Numerical simulation of helicopter rotor-fuselage-engine aerodynamic interactions

The rotor-fuselage-engine aerodynamic interactions were studied using computational fluid dynamics numerical tools. The body-fitted structural grid was generated through multi-block grid technique. The finite volume method was adopted and incompressible Navier-Stokes equation was solved. The flow field and performance of the helicopter in forward flight were analyzed. Firstly, the accuracy of viscous simulation was investigated for the isolated fuselage configuration. Then, the rotor-fuselage aerodynamic interactions using the actuator disk model were obtained by discussing the influence of rotor on fuselage pressure distribution. Finally, the effect of the helicopter engine inlet and outlet was analyzed using a simplified engine model and the rotor-fuselage-engine interactions were obtained.