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NUMERICAL MODELLING OF HELICOPTER FUSELAGE AERODYNAMICS IN

FORWARD FLIGHT USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

Conference Paper · June 2018

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 The 3rd SAWAE 2018 Workshop

NUMERICAL MODELLING OF HELICOPTER FUSELAGE

AERODYNAMICS IN FORWARD FLIGHT USING
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

Wan Ahmad Aiman Wan Mohamad, Nik Ahmad Ridhwan Nik Mohd,
Shabudin Mat, Mohd Nizam Dahalan

Aeronautics Laboratory,
Faculty of Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
81310 Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Email: ridhwan@utm.my

ABSTRACT characteristics around helicopter fuselage are typically

This paper presents the aerodynamic loads' prediction dominated by a massive flow separation especially at the
of a generic helicopter fuselage in forward flight using aft end of the fuselage. Thus accurate prediction of
computational fluid dynamics. The multipurpose ANSYS helicopter drag is important for the design of efficient and
Fluent CFD solver that is based on the cell-centered finite environmentally friendly rotorcraft.
volume method for solving Reynolds-averaged Navier-
Stokes equations has been used and calculated for
Reynolds numbers of 4.46 × 106 and 0.636 × 106. The
predicted surface pressure and aerodynamic loads are
compared against PUMA CFD solver and available
experimental data for verification. From CFD simulation
performed, aerodynamic data obtained are in good
agreement with experiments especially for regions with
the low adverse pressure gradient. The computed
aerodynamic loads are also found to have small influence
by the two Reynolds number used but significant with the
change in the fight (pitch and yaw) positions. Fig 1 Parasite drag contribution division in percentage of
total parasite drag for a TEL-class utility helicopter in
KEYWORDS: helicopter, fuselage, aerodynamics, level flight (Wagner et al., 1973)
CFD, forward flight.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has advanced
and accepted as a prediction tool by academia and industry
1. INTRODUCTION mainly in supporting research and preliminary design of
The shape of a rotorcraft fuselage is designed mainly the helicopter. Application of CFD to the simulation of
to fit its future function rather than its aerodynamic viscous flow over individual components of rotorcraft
efficiency (Schaeffler et al., 2010). Fuselage shape is such as the fuselage and the rotor was carried successfully.
known to contribute 1/3 to the parasite drag of a A substantial number of research has been dedicated to
helicopter. The percentage of parasite drag generated by a CFD studies mainly focusing on the validation of the CFD
utility helicopter as shown in Fig. 1 (Filippone, 2001, models, algorithm, and techniques for fuselage flow (Nik
Grawunder et al., 2012, Batrakov et al., 2015). The flow

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 The 3rd SAWAE 2018 Workshop

Mohd, 2012, Nik Mohd, 2017, Steijl, 2012, Biava et al, for two Reynolds numbers of 4.46 × 106 and 0.636 × 106
2012 & Batrakov et al., 2015). following Schweitzer (1999) and Freeman et al. (1979).
The on-going advancement in computational To assess the effect of fuselage pitch and yaw on
resources together with the improvement of numerical aerodynamics, simulations were then run for a range of
methods has contributed to the success of Computational pitch and yaw angles from -20° up to 20 with 5° angle
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in Aeronautics. In the field of increment.
helicopters, CFD methods are probably not as extensively
used as for fixed-wing applications, because of the
existence of rotating part and its interaction with the
fuselage and other components that make CFD prediction
is more challenging. Despite these difficulties, CFD
methods are becoming mature enough to help in the
analysis of the flow characteristics around helicopters
(Wagner et al., 1973, Mineck, 1999).
The focus of this work is to replicate the previous work
on ROBIN fuselage but using ANSYS Fluent CFD solver.
The data obtained will provide better insights into the Tail section (b) Aft cowling
choice of turbulence model used for prediction of steady
viscous simulation of isolated helicopter fuselage in
forward flight cases. The ROBIN fuselage used was
developed at NASA Langley in the 1970s (Schaeffler et
al, 2010) to be representative of a generic helicopter was
used in the present work. The geometry has been utilized
in many wind tunnel experiments (Freeman and Mineck,
1979) and widely used in by the rotorcraft CFD (c) Front cowling (d) Front fuselage nose
community (O’Brien and Smith, 2005). ROBIN fuselage
is an ideal fuselage shape with smooth slow except aft the
pylon.

2. COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

In this work, a generic helicopter fuselage of NASA

developed for Rotor-Body Interaction study as reported (e) Global mesh
(Berry & Althoff, 1989 and Schweitzer, 1999) was used
as a reference fuselage geometry in this present study. The Fig. 2 Hybrid structured and unstructured mesh
total fuselage length Lf = 2 m similar to the work of construction around fuselage with 3.5 million elements.
Schweitzer (1999) was used for computing aerodynamics
forces and moments.
An unstructured mesh was generated by using an 3. ANALYSIS
integrated automatic ANSYS mesh tool. Proximity to All the predicted and measured data presented here
fuselage surfaces, structured mesh with y+ < 5 equivalent were for Reynolds number of 4.46 × 106 and 0.636 × 106.
to the first layer thickness of 3.0 × 10-5 m was generated The geometry of the fuselage model used is non-
to capture viscous effect in the laminar sub-layer layer dimensionalized by taking rotor radius as the reference
region (Meador and Smart, 2005). The details of the mesh length. The summary of test cases considered is shown in
topology generated near the fuselage are shown in Fig. 2. Table 1 and in Fig. 3 & 4 show locations on the surface of
The total number of mesh elements generated was the fuselage used for monitoring surface static pressure.
approximately 3.5 million elements.
For the test cases considered, the simulation
performed was computed initially using inviscid model
and SIMPLE pressure correction method in the same
condition with the experiment (Freeman and Mineck,
1979). Second order upwind advection schemes were then
used for more accurate prediction. Simulations were run

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 The 3rd SAWAE 2018 Workshop

Distribution of pressure coefficients on the

Fig. 3 Location of the pressure orifices in x/r direction on
the surface of ROBIN body following Freeman and
Mineck (1979).
centerline of the fuselage at Reynolds number of 4.46 ×
106 plotted for two pitch angles are shown in Fig. 6. In the
figure, CFD predicts 4 regions with a local surface
pressure that is significantly higher than ambient pressure
(at x/r = 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0). It also noted that the trend
for both pitch angles considered is similar except for lower
pitch angles.

(a) x/r = 0.0517 (b) x/r = 0.3497

Fig. 4 Location of the pressure orifices in z/r direction on
the surface of ROBIN body.

The distribution of predicted surface pressure

coefficients for a pure pitch case is shown in Fig. 4 and 5.
Figures indicate that a large portion of fuselage
experiences negative pressure both for α = 0° and 5°. The
(c) x/r = 1.0008 (d) x/r = 1.3450
results also show that the predicted pressure coefficients
obtained in the present work are in very good agreement
Fig. 4 Cp distribution at α = 0°, Re = 4.46 × 106.
with those obtained from PUMA and experiment.
As expected, a large discrepancy between CFD and
experiment occur at the rear part of the pylon (doghouse).
In this region Fig. 5 (c) and (d), large longitudinal pressure
gradient and separated flow developed due to rapid
changing in the aft part of the pylon geometry, promoting
to a high highly turbulence and separated flow.

Table 1 Test conditions

(a) x/r = 0.0517 (b) x/r = 0.3497

(c) x/r = 1.0008 (d) x/r = 1.3450

Fig. 5 Cp distribution at α = 5°, Re = 4.46 × 106.

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CFD predicts higher suction at the bottom surface

and front part of the fuselage. Lower values at the back
part of the fuselage for lower pitch case. The stagnation
area also was found to moved upward when pitching down
and this causes the pressure to decrease to a negative value
at the bottom surface of the fuselage, created a higher
suction compare to higher pitch angles case.

Fig 7 Cp contour of ROBIN fuselage at different

Reynolds and pitch angles

Fig 6 Computed surface pressure coefficient at symmetry

plane. Re = 4.46 × 106.

Fig. 7 shows the fuselage coloured by the contour of

surface pressure. For pure pitch condition, surface
pressure is symmetrical. In the nose down condition, Fig 8 Lift coefficients vs yaw angle at Re = 4.46 × 106
larger stagnation pressure predicted around the nose and and 0.636 × 106.
the front part of the pylon. Higher Cp is expected for a
fuselage operating at higher Reynolds.
In Fig. 8, force coefficients plotted against fuselage
pitch angles are compared for two Reynolds numbers. For
a pure yaw case, lift coefficient generated is minimal for
all yaw angles considered. The drag and side force
coefficients, however continues to increase with the
increment in the yaw angle as expected. The result also
shows that there is no significant effect to the aerodynamic
force prediction due to Reynolds numbers used.
Force coefficients distribution for a range of fuselage
pitch angles predicted for two Reynolds numbers is
presented in Fig. 9. At α = 0°, lift coefficient CLo obtained
indicated that very minimal lift force was generated. The
CL value then varies linearly for both pitch up and pitch
down condition which slightly higher CL value generated
during pitch down. It is also found that for ROBIN body, Fig 9 Lift coefficients vs pitch angle at Re = 4.446 × 106
the CDo value generated in yaw is almost equivalent to the and 0.636 × 106.
pitch condition. The side force coefficient is found to be
negligible important for pure pitch case.

4

4. CONCLUSIONS
This work was done to identify the aerodynamic
forces and moments of an isolated fuselage during forward
flight by using computational fluid dynamics. In this
work, a generic helicopter fuselage developed by NASA
for Rotor-Body Interaction study was selected for the
numerical study. An unstructured mesh was generated
using ANSYS mesh and ANSYS Fluent CFD flow solver,
the simulations were done at two different Reynolds
numbers of 4.46 × 106 and 0.636 × 106 and for a range of
pitch and yaw cases.
For validation and verification purposes, the results
at Reynolds number of 4.46 × 106 and different pitch
angles from ANSYS Fluent were compared with the
available data from the published paper. The comparison
of Cp shows a good agreement between ANSYS Fluent,
PUMA CFD and experiment. As expected, the results
highlighted some discrepancies with the experimental data
in the region where a high turbulence flow and highly
separated flows generated. This finding highlighted that
the choice of turbulence model used is valid for a highly
laminar region only.
The lift coefficient predicted to be very minimal for
all yaw angles while the side force coefficient is very
minimal for all yaw angles considered. CFD also predicts
symmetrical drag distribution for yaw cases. The side
force coefficient, however, increases linearly with a
positive gradient. For all test cases, pressure force was
found to be the main contributor to the generation of
aerodynamic forces. Meanwhile, at low angles cases, the
ROBIN fuselage aerodynamics was dominated by viscous
drag.
REFERENCES
Batrakov, A, Garipova, L., Kusyumov, A., Mikhailov,
S. and Barakos, G., Computational Fluid Dynamics
Modeling of Helicopter Fuselage Drag, Journal of
Aircraft, 52(5), pp: 1634-1643, 2015.
Biava, M., Khier, W., and Vigevano, L., CFD
Prediction of Air Flow Past Full Helicopter Configuration,
Aerospace Science and Technology, vol 19, no 1, 2012.
Freeman, C. E., Mineck, R. E., Fuselage surface
pressure measurements of a helicopter wind-tunnel model
with a 3.15-meter diameter single rotor, NASA-TM-80051,
1979.
Steijl, R. and Barakos, G. N., CFD Analysis of
Complete Helicopter Configurations – Lesson Learnt
From the GOAHEAD Project, Aerospace Science and
Technology, vol 19, pp: 58-71, 2012.
Nik Mohd, N. A. R. and Barakos, G. N.,
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Rotors, Jurnal Mekanikal, no 34, pp:16-46, 2012.
Schaeffler, N. W., Allan, B. G., Lienard, C., and La
Pape, A., Progress Towards Fuselage Drag Reduction via
active Flow Control: A Combined CFD and Experimental
Effort, 36th European Rotorcraft Forum, Paris, 2010.
The 3rd SAWAE 2018 Workshop
Filippone, A., and Michelsen, J. A., Aerodynamic
Drag Prediction of Helicopter Fuselage, Journal of
Aircraft, vol 38, no 2, pp: 326-333, 2001.
Berry, J. D., Althoff, S. L., Computing induced
velocity perturbations due to a helicopter fuselage in a free
stream, NASA-TM-713, 1989.
Mineck, R. E., Application of an Unstructured Grid
Navier-Stokes Solver to a Generic Helicopter Boby:
Comparison of Unstructured Grid Results with Structured
Grid Results and Experimental Results, Technical Report.
NASA Langley Technical Report Server, 1999.
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around Helicopter Fuselages, Master’s thesis,
Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, 1999.
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Method Developed From Solutions of the Boundary-
Layer Equations. American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics Journal, vol 43, no 1, 135-139, 2005.
Grawunder, M., ReB, R., Breitsamter, C., & Adams,
N., Flow characteristics of a helicopter fuselage
configuration including a rotating rotor head. 28th
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ICAS2012, 2012.
Wagner, S. N., Problems of Estimating the Drag of a
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O’Brien, D. M., Smith, M. J., Analysis of Rotor-
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Technology and Management, vol 9, no 2, pp:193-202,
2017.
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PHOTOS AND INFORMATION

Wan Ahmad Aiman Wan
Mohamad received the B. Eng.
(Mechanical-Aeronautics) (2017)
from Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia. He is an undergraduate
student, School of Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
His current interests include
aerodynamics and fluid
mechanics.
Nik Ahmad Ridhwan Nik Mohd
received Ph.D. (2012) degrees in
Engineering from Liverpool
University. He is a Senior
Lecturer in the School of
Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering, Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia. His current interests
include rotorcraft aerodynamics,
numerical analysis and
computational fluid dynamics.
Mohd Nizam Dahalan is a
Senior Lecturer in the School of
Mechanical Engineering at
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia. His research
interests include applied
aerodynamics and air vehicle
design. He is current activity is
developing active flow control for
flow separation control.
Shabudin Mat he obtained his
Bachelor of Aerospace
Engineering form UTM,
Malaysia. He then continued his
Master in ENSICA, France. He
obtained his PhD in low speed
aerodynamics from the University
of Glasgow. He published many
papers in the field of
aerodynamics of delta wing. He is
currently supervising students in
experimental aerodynamics.

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