Experimental and numerical investigation of rotor aerodynamics in forward flight

AIAA 34th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, RENO, NV, JAN 15-19, 1996International audienceThis paper concerns an experimental and numerical investigation of the aerodynamic field of a model rotor in forward night, The study emphasizes the characterization of the flowfield in the immediate vicinity of the blade and in its near wake. The analysis of the blade aerodynamics is supported by measurements performed on the overall airloads, the three-dimensional velocity field around the blade and in the wake (determined by means of laser Doppler anemometry measurements), and the geometry of the tip vortex path, The corresponding data results allow the correlation of typical velocity profiles to the vortex characteristics parameters, From the computational approach, the prediction efficiency of a prescribed wake analysis code and its improvement are checked by direct comparisons with experiments performed either on the tip vortex path, or on the three-dimensional, velocity field and the circulation distribution along the blade span