High Fidelity, Real-Time, Rotor Wake Module with Shipboard Interactions

Advanced rotorcraft induced velocity models have been developed that provide real-time solutions of the full-span, free-vortex rotor wake combined with fast panel models. It has been demonstrated in Phase I that these physically-based methods may be applied to model complex interactions between the rotorcraft, ship, and airwake in real-time simulation applications. The proposed Phase II program will continue the development of an advanced rotorcraft induced velocity module focusing on methodology refinement and validation, software development, and piloted flight simulation integration. A key innovation of the proposed work has been the development of a methodology that accounts for rotorcraft wake interactions with the ship airwake, provided by off-line CFD analysis (database). The methodology is generic and scalable so that higher fidelity representations can be supported as processor speeds increase and multi-core computational hardware are used. Demonstration of the wake modeling methodology has been performed, and continuing development during Phase II will lead to an advanced real-time rotorcraft induced velocity module, including full and partial ground effect models for moving ground planes (ship decks) and coupled rotorcraft/ship airwake models, suitable for generic flight simulation architectures. Software modules will be developed for integration and demonstration in a U.S. Navy flight simulation (CASTLE-based) environment.