ADVANCED ROTORCRAFT TECHNOLOGY, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: A08-017

Description

Accurate prediction of rotorcraft aeromechanics is critical for cost-effective design of future advanced rotorcraft capable of achieving the highest possible mission requirements. A new generation of high-fidelity rotorcraft analysis packages have enabled new levels of prediction accuracy. These software packages are the modular integration of numerous multi-disciplinary codes, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and rotorcraft comprehensive analysis (CA). CREATE A/V Helios is a rotary-wing aeromechanics simulation framework that integrates these high-fidelity (CFD) with (CA).Rotorcraft comprehensive analysis systems such as RCAS utilizing structural dynamics with lower fidelity aerodynamic methods with have evolved to play a crucial role in rotorcraft design and analysis.The modular integration of CFD and CA programs into a single software package compliments each program's capabilities and enables the highest fidelity aero-elastic rotor and full vehicle analyses available.The cohesive integration of HELIOS and RCAS and the enhancement of their user interfaces is crucial to improving rotorcraft design and analysis.The proposed effort is to enhance RCAS and Helios Graphical User Interface (GUI) and significantly improve the analysis capability for U.S. Army rotorcraft simulations. This effort will enable the modeling and analysis of complex rotorcraft configurations in steady or maneuvering autopiloted flight.