Two- and three-dimensional blade vortex interactions

A three-dimensional time dependent Navier-Stokes analysis was applied to the rotor blade vortex interaction (BVI) problem. The numerical procedure is an iterative implicit procedure using three point central differences to represent spatial derivatives. A series of calculations were made to determine the time steps, pseudo-time steps, iterations, artificial dissipation level, etc. required to maintain a nondissipative vortex. Results show the chosen method to have excellent non-dissipative properties provided the correct parameters are chosen. This study was used to set parameters for both two- and three-dimensional blade vortex interaction studies. The two-dimensional study considered the interaction between a vortex and a NACA0012 airfoil. The results showed the detailed physics during the interaction including the pressure pulse propagating from the blade. The simulated flow physics was qualitatively similar to that experimentally observed. The 2-D BVI phenomena is the result of the buildup and violent collapse of the shock waves and local supersonic pockets on the blade surfaces. The resulting pressure pulse build-up appears to be centered at the blade leading edge. The three-dimensional interaction study considered the case of a vortex at 20 deg incidence to the blade leading edge. Although the qualitative results were similar to that of the two-dimensional interaction, details clearly showed the three-dimensional nature of the interaction process.