Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Flight simulation of aircraft is a well-established field providing excellent value/price ratio to the community. Flight simulators for airplanes and helicopters allow efficient pilot training (time and costs) while reducing risks of losing an aircraft or worse, pilots. This project aims at increasing the fidelity of aerodynamic models used in real-time flight simulation packages for helicopter landing on ships. The models will be of mixed-fidelity: the inviscid flow will be modeled via Vortex Lattice methods, while viscous flows will be modeled via Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) methods. In particular, emphasis will be placed on rotor flow modeling with periodic motions. The effects of compressibility, transonic flow conditions, boundary-layers, and tip vortex will be examined, as well as the effects of ship wakes by a collaborative approach. Prof. Laurendeau's team at Polytechnique Montréal will examine the time-accurate inviscid models on Central Processing Units (CPU)/Graphics Processing Units (GPU) and on rotor flow models via the actuator disk boundary conditions while Prof. Nadarajah's team at McGill University will concentrate on periodic viscous flow models. CAE will examine the ship wake model with a commercial 3D flow solver to provide information on ship wakes.The project will provide training for 2 M.sc., 2 Ph.D. and 1 Post-Doctoral student in the area of real-time aerodynamic flow models. The results will increase CAE's flight simulation capabilities for helicopter flight, as well as provide novel algorithms that can be used in the field of wind-energy (wind-farms) and engines (turbo-fan and turbo-propellers). For instance, the wind-turbine industry can use the algorithms for the prediction of wind-farm wake effects. The ship industry requires propellers models. The aerospace industry could benefit from the NLFD approach for turbopropellers/turbo-jet engines. The newly created drone market, when regulated, will need to examine wake effects. Finally, the technology can serve the civil as well as the military sectors for more secure and efficient air operations.