The use of ducted propellers as the quiet propulsive device for UnmannedAerial Vehicles (UAV) is steadily gaining popularity. Their successful application as the fenestron tail rotor is global and well established.This research proposes a comprehensive analysis tool for ducted propellers.In Phase I,… More

"Shipboard landings of V/STOL aircraft have identified both unique dynamic interface issues and the need for an accurate simulation module for practicing shipboard operations. The unsteady, unpredictable air wake generated by large ships presents problemsto rotorcraft pilots because it can cause the… More

"Shipboard landings of JSF, AV-8B and Bell-Boeing's V22 have identified unique dynamicinterface issues and the critical need for an accurate and efficient technique forsimulating wind-over-deck situations. In this research, a novel approach is proposedwherein the flowfield of the ship, its… More

"Shrouded-fans are an integral part of the U.S. Army's transportation systems. TheRAH-66's fan-tail, Sikorsky's Cypher and Micro-Craft's UAV are testimonials to theirincreasing importance. Shrouded-fans are efficient, but aerodynamically very complex,particularly in non-axial flight conditions such… More

Shrouded-fans play a key role in the U.S. Army's transportation systems. A preliminary design tool capable of simulating the flow field in different flight conditions for predicting the shroud and fan performance can significantly reduce design costs. Thisproposal offers a computational tool that… More

Viscous analysis is vital for a complete understanding of missle and UAV aerodynamic properties. This proposal offers a technique for generating grids suitable for viscous analysis on complex configurations.The principle idea is to divide the region closest to the body into a sequance of… More

Viscous analysis is vital for a complete understanding of missile and UAV aerodynamic properties. A high fidelity aerodynamic analysis tool capable of predicting a flow field can significantly reduce design time and cost. The success of a CFD analysis is dependent on the quality of the grid. This… More

The lack of proper estimation of air loads encountered during transient maneuvers introduces excessive design conservatism. This proposal offers to develop a computational tool, based on the lower order momentum source rotor model, capable of analyzing steady and transient maneuvers. This tool… More

Rotorcraft engineers traditionally use the wind tunnel to evaluate and finalize designs. Insufficient correlation between wind tunnel results and flight tests, have been often attributed in part to uncertainty in blockage corrections. Estimation of rotor blockage is significantly more complex than… More

The lack of proper estimation of air loads encountered during transient maneuvers introduces excessive design conservatism. A reduced fidelity CFD methodology based on momentum source (Rot3DC) and a comprehensive analysis code (RCAS) were coupled in Phase I to validate the ''proof-of-concept'' that… More

During initial design studies, parametric variation of vehicle geometry is routine. In addition, rotorcraft engineers traditionally use the wind tunnel to evaluate and finalize designs. Estimation of rotor tunnel blockage is significantly more complex than bluff body corrections as the correction… More

The incorporation of viscous analysis in design is vital for a completeunderstanding of aerodynamic problems.This proposal offers to develop and integrate with RotCFD a method for semi-automatically generating grids suitable for viscous analysis on complex configurations as well as parallelize the… More

During initial design studies, parametric variation of vehicle geometryis routine. In addition, rotorcraft engineers traditionally use the wind tunnel to evaluate and finalize designs. Correlation between wind tunnel results and flight tests, when not good, have been often attributed in part to… More

In this highly interconnected world, transportation systems must feature increased flexibility and shorter door-to-door trip times to be successful. Shorter door-to-door trip times require an increased usage of rotary wing and runway independent V/STOL technology. One of the limiting factors to… More