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Towards In-Flight Measurements of Helicopter Blade Tip Vortices

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Advanced In-Flight Measurement Techniques

Part of the book series: Research Topics in Aerospace ((RTA))

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Abstract

In the framework of the AIM project the near field of the blade tip vortex of a full-scale helicopter in simulated hover flight was investigated by combining three-component Particle Image Velocimetry and Background Oriented Schlieren measurements. The velocity field measurements in the range of wake ages of \({\uppsi _{\mathrm{{v}}}={1}^\circ }\) to \({30}^\circ \) in azimuth provided a reference for a quantitative analysis of the Schlieren results yielding vortex core density estimates. Ongoing vortex roll-up was observed at \({\uppsi _{\mathrm{{v}}}={1}^\circ }\) while considerable aperiodicity was persistent thereafter. The vortex parameters for \({\uppsi _{\mathrm{{v}}}>{1}^\circ }\) were consistent with the Scully vortex model. The particular challenges of full-scale, outdoor testing, especially the limited spatial resolution and aperiodicity effects, resulted in elevated measurement uncertainty as compared to sub-scale experiments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The near field denotes the region directly behind the blade tip where the initial development of tip vortex takes place.

  2. 2.

    Note that \({\Gamma _1}\) is not to be confused with \(\Gamma _{\mathrm{{v}}}\) the circulation of a vortex.

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Acknowledgments

The analysis was performed in the framework of the US/German Memorandum of Understanding on Helicopter Aerodynamics, Task VIII “Rotor Wake Measurement Techniques”. The authors are greatly indebted to F. Leopold from the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis and E. Goldhahn from the Institute for Turbo Machinery, University of Hannover for their valuable contributions to the realisation and analysis the Schlieren measurements. Furthermore, the dedicated support by the helicopter crew R. Gebhard and U. Göhmann as well as by our colleagues B. G. van der Wall, H. Richard, M. Jönsson, and M. Kühn is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. German Aerospace Center, Linder Höhe, 51147, Köln, Germany

    Kolja Kindler, Karen Mulleners & Markus Raffel

  2. Greman Aerospace Center (DLR), Bunsenstraß 10, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Karen Mulleners

  3. Institute for Turbo Machinery and Fluid Dynamics, University of Hannover, Appelstr. 9, D-30167, Hannover, Germany

    Karen Mulleners

Authors
  1. Kolja Kindler
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  2. Karen Mulleners
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  3. Markus Raffel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kolja Kindler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Raumfahrt e. V., Institut für Aerodynamik und Strömungs-, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und, Bunsenstr. 10, Göttingen, 37073, Germany

    Fritz Boden

  2. , National Flying Laboratory Centre, Cranfield University, Beds, MK43 0AL, United Kingdom

    Nicholas Lawson

  3. , Flight Test Systems &, National Aerospace Laboratory NLR, Anthony Fokkerweg 2, CM Amsterdam, 1059, Netherlands

    Henk W. Jentink

  4. Raumfahrt e. V., Institut für Aerodynamik und, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und, Bunsenstr. 10, Göttingen, 37073, Germany

    Jürgen Kompenhans

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Kindler, K., Mulleners, K., Raffel, M. (2013). Towards In-Flight Measurements of Helicopter Blade Tip Vortices . In: Boden, F., Lawson, N., Jentink, H., Kompenhans, J. (eds) Advanced In-Flight Measurement Techniques. Research Topics in Aerospace. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34738-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34738-2_11

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-34737-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-34738-2

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