Advanced Rotorcraft Brownout Aerodynamic Analysis and Flight Simulation

A critical operational problem for Army rotorcraft is “brownout” caused by excessive dust and debris kicked up by helicopter rotorwash during take-off and landing. This can eliminate visibility and severely damage engine parts and rotor blades. Brownout is causing significant hazards for helicopter operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The proposed effort will develop a physics-based aerodynamic analysis and flight simulation able to identify, characterize and evaluate brownout conditions for general aircraft, wind, ground topology and flight maneuvers. A greatly accelerated timetable is possible for this project by leveraging key enabling technologies already in place at Continuum Dynamics, Inc. (CDI), including: (1) CDI’s state-of-the-art, CHARM rotary-wing wake model and fast panel fuselage/ground surface model, (2) CDI’s MAST flight simulation that models rotorcraft transient maneuvering flight near the ground for general wind conditions; (3) CDI’s Army-accredited LDTRAN particle entrainment and transport model; (4) CDI’s visual scattering and obscuration model developed during Phase I, and (5) CDI’s VRML/X3D multi-viewpoint graphics rendering technology. These technologies were incorporated into a prototype brownout analysis in Phase I. Phase II will see key model enhancements, validation, and packaging of a brownout analysis and flight simulation with significantly expanded functionality tailored to Army and industry needs.