High-fidelity computational study of aerodynamic noise of side-by-side rotor in full configuration

This paper presents a numerical study of side-by-side rotor aircraft in full configuration during hover using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and aeroacoustic simulations. CFD simulations are performed using HPCMP CREATE™-AV Helios, while acoustic calculations are conducted with PSU-WOPWOP. Overset structured grids are applied using the SA-DES turbulence model along with adaptive mesh refinement in the near- and off-body meshes. Four overlap cases at a specific collective pitch angle of 8° are considered. Results reveal a substantial influence of the fuselage on rotor performance, with improvement in the figure of merit being observed for each overlap configuration due to a partial ground effect. There is considerable increase in blade sectional thrust, pressure fluctuations, and noise levels seen in the 0% overlap configuration compared to the 25% overlap configuration. This increase is primarily due to the absence of rotor overlap, resulting in a lower induced velocity allowing for flow to travel upward, and reaching the rotor disk plane. The acoustic spectrum appears at all harmonics of the blade passing frequency for the 0% and 5% overlap configurations. In contrast, the acoustic spectrum is distinctly present only at even harmonics for the 15% and 25% overlap cases. A noise reduction benefit of 3-5 dBA is noticed in the full configuration cases having rotor overlap compared to the 0% overlap configuration. Acoustic destructive interference is observed in the directivity plot only for the 15% and 25% overlap configurations. Overall, this paper reveals that the fuselage has a significant impact on the performance, aerodynamics, and aeroacoustics of the side-by-side UAM vehicle in hover.