High-fidelity aerodynamic and acoustic design and analysis of a heavy-lift eVTOL

Zhang, T., Barakos, G. N. , Furqan, and Foster, M. (2023) High-fidelity aerodynamic and acoustic design and analysis of a heavy-lift eVTOL. Aerospace Science and Technology, 137, 108307. (doi: 10.1016/j.ast.2023.108307)

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Abstract

This work presents the high-fidelity aerodynamic and acoustic modelling processes supporting the preliminary design of a large eVTOL vehicle at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with GKN Aerospace. To support the GKN heavy-lift eVTOL design, known as Skybus, a range of tools of various fidelity levels were adopted and integrated. This paper first presents the conceptual design and initial sizing of the Skybus vehicle. The airframe design was then analysed using high-fidelity methods with parametric variations of wing an/di-hedral designs. By adjusting the interactions between the wings and the airframe, 5[degree] front wing anhedral combined with a 10[degree] aft wing dihedral offered the maximum lift increase. High-fidelity CFD simulations of the complete Skybus vehicle in forward flight with two and four operating propellers were later carried out. The aerodynamic interactions between the propellers and the wings were analysed in detail. In cruise, the four-rotor configuration showed stronger aerodynamic interference effects and hence required more power than the two-rotor counterpart. Near-field acoustics of the vehicle was then extracted directly from the flow solutions and analysed. Far-field noise features were also computed using the FW-H equations and the CFD solutions. The peak noise levels of the heavy-lift vehicle in forward flight at 90 m/s were about 75 dB SPL perceived on the ground 1000 m below. Acoustic features and differences of the two configurations along the flight path and in the lateral directions were presented and discussed.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:The authors would like to acknowledge GKN Aerospace for their support and approval of publication.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Furqan, Mr Furqan and Barakos, Professor George and Zhang, Mr Tao and Foster, Mr Malcolm
Authors: Zhang, T., Barakos, G. N., Furqan, , and Foster, M.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Autonomous Systems and Connectivity
Journal Name:Aerospace Science and Technology
Publisher:Elsevier Masson SAS
ISSN:1270-9638
ISSN (Online):1626-3219
Published Online:11 April 2023
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2023 The Authors
First Published:First published in Aerospace Science and Technology 137:108307
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

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