Aeroelastic modeling effect in rotor BVI noise prediction

The acoustic field generated by a helicopter main rotor experiencing blade-vortex interaction (BVI) during a descent flight path is examined. The prediction procedure starts from the determination of the aeroelastic steady periodic solution. Then, a boundary integral formulation for the velocity potential suited for configurations where stong wake/blade impingement occurs is applied. It is fully three-dimensional, can be applied to blades with arbitrary shape and motion and performs the calculation of both wake shape and blade pressure field. Finally, the noise field generated by the helicopter rotor is evaluated through an aeroacoustic tool based on the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings equation. The numerical investigation discusses the sensitivity of BVI noise prediction on the aeroelastic models applied for the calculation of blade steady periodic deformations. The effects of the different blade deformations given by the aeroelastic solvers considered are examined both in terms of local acoustic signatures and in terms of noise radiation characteristics.