Department of Aerospace Engineering

PILCHER MEMORIAL LECTURE

Understanding Helicopter
Aerodynamics through
Computational Simulation
An inaugural lecture to be delivered by

Prof. Richard E Brown

Thursday 8 November 2007
6.00 for 6.30 pm

Stevenson Lecture Theatre

James Watt (South) Building

Enter by main gate

Light refreshments will be provided in the Ground Floor Common Room after the lecture

Free and open to all - No ticket required

For further information contact Lynsey Stewart 0141 330 6143

Summary of Lecture

The helicopter is the most practical solution thought of so far to an extremely difficult problem in
aeronautics: that of combining the ability to hover economically in mid air with the ability to move
through the air at reasonable speed. Unfortunately the solution as it exists today is not without its
compromises and inherent problems. Helicopters are very difficult to fly and are generally regarded as
being too noisy, too slow and excessively prone to vibration. Much effort has been devoted to
understanding the aerodynamic and dynamic behaviour of the helicopter with a view to reducing its
noise and vibration, and improving its handling qualities and safety. The inherent complexity of the
helicopter poses a distinct impediment to its successful modelling and thus understanding, yet some
significant advances have been made in recent times thanks to the advent of powerful computers and
advanced numerical techniques.

In this lecture, the basic mechanics of the helicopter will be described, and recent progress in
understanding the coupled aerodynamic-mechanical behaviour of the system will be discussed.
Several key ongoing areas of investigation will be described, in particular the role of wake instabilities
in disrupting the production of lift during low-speed descending flight, excitation of the dynamics of the
system by internal aerodynamic interactions, and some rather curious properties of the rotor wake
when the helicopter is flown close to the ground. The lecture will conclude with a discussion of future
areas that are ripe for exploration.