Aerodynamic simulations of an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft using reformulated vortex particle method (2024)

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Volume 36, Issue 6

June 2024

Research Article| June 06 2024

Jun Wei (卫军)

;

Jun Wei (卫军)

(Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft)

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

, Shanghai 200240,

China

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Wei Gao (高微)

;

Wei Gao (高微)

(Formal analysis, Software, Validation, Writing – review & editing)

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

, Shanghai 200240,

China

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Wenxuan Gao (高文轩)

;

Wenxuan Gao (高文轩)

(Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing)

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

, Shanghai 200240,

China

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Bei Lu (陆蓓)

;

Bei Lu (陆蓓)

(Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

, Shanghai 200240,

China

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Qifu Li (李启夫)

Qifu Li (李启夫) a)

(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision)

School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

, Shanghai 200240,

China

a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: qifuli@sjtu.edu.cn

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Author & Article Information

a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: qifuli@sjtu.edu.cn

Physics of Fluids 36, 065114 (2024)

Article history

Received:

April 04 2024

Accepted:

May 22 2024

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Citation

Jun Wei, Wei Gao, Wenxuan Gao, Bei Lu, Qifu Li; Aerodynamic simulations of an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft using reformulated vortex particle method. Physics of Fluids 1 June 2024; 36 (6): 065114. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0212347

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As the population of the world's major cities increases, urban ground transportation capability reaches its limits. Consequently, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft have been developed to address this issue. Modern vertical takeoff and landing designs vary in configurations, each possessing distinct aerodynamic properties. In this work, we focus on the interaction between rotors and fixed wings in a parallel layout, using a prototype with an unconventional configuration as an example. The interaction between the slipstream of rotors and the wake of fixed wings is analyzed using the vortex particle method. Actuator surface model is used to deal with the boundary problem between the wing and the rotors. The applicability of the simulation method adopted in this paper is verified through experimental tests on the thrust and torque of the rotors. The results indicate that under the condition of forward flight at zero angle of attack, the existence of rotor slipstream induces a significant increase by three to four times the local lift on the wing. Correspondingly, under vertical takeoff and hovering conditions, the existence of the rotor slipstream causes the local effective velocity and circulation of the wing to increase. On the other hand, at zero angle of attack and a forward flight, the lift coefficient of the rear rotors increases slightly due to the presence of the wing wake. The lift distribution of the rear rotors along the radial direction also changes greatly.

Topics

Electrical equipment, Power plants, Steady state process, Newtonian mechanics, Aircraft, Electric propulsion, Aerodynamics, Navier Stokes equations, Fluid drag, Turbulence simulations

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