Abstract
Experimental techniques for aerodynamics have been essential tools for the development of rotorcraft. This includes wind tunnel, water tank testing, and flight testing. Rotor flows are rich in their physical complexity, and consequently an awareness of range of experimental methods is required. The chapter contains an introduction to wind tunnels, followed by a description of important experimental techniques, such as flow visualisation, pressure measurements, force and moment measurements, thermal anemometry and instrument calibration. Their performance and relative merits are discussed. Results are presented include forces and moments on a rotor, dynamic stall, particle-image velocimetry of a vortex ring state, and more.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Goldstein RJ (ed) (1996) Fluid mechanics measurements, 3nd ed. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203755723
Barlow JB, Rae WH, Pope A (1999) Low-speed wind tunnel testing. Wiley-Interscience
Bagai A, Leishman JG (1993) Flow visualization of compressible vortex structures using density gradient techniques. Exper Fluids 15:431–442. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00191786
Leishman GJ, Bhagwat MJ, Ananthan S (2004) The vortex ring state as a spatially and temporally developing wake instability. J Am Helicopter Soc 49(2):160–175
Raffel M (2015) Background-oriented Schlieren techniques. Exper Fluids 56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-015-1927-5
Kindler K, Goldhahn E, Leopold F, Raffel M (2007) Recent developments in background oriented Schlieren methods for rotor blade tip vortex measurements. Exper Fluids 43:233–240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-007-0328-9
Shaw-Ward S, Titchmarsh A, Birch DM (2015) Calibration and use of n-hole velocity probes. AIAA J 53. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.J053130
Emrich RJ (ed) (1981) Methods of experimental physics, vol 18. Academic Press, Fluid Dynamics, Parts A and B
Raffel M, Willert CE, Scarano F, Kahler C, Wereley ST, Kompenhans J (2018) Particle image velocimetry. A Practical Guide Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68852-7
Prasad AK (2000) Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry. Exper Fluids 29:103–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003480000143
Albrecht HE, Borys M, Damaschke N, Tropea C (2003) Laser doppler and phase doppler measurement techniques. Springer
Zagaglia D, Zanotti A, Gibertini G (2018) Analysis of the loads acting on the rotor of a helicopter model close to an obstacle in moderate windy conditions. Aerospace Sci Technol 78:580–592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2018.05.019
Prince SA, Green RB, Coton FN, Wang Y (2019) The effect of steady and pulsed air jet vortex generator blowing on an airfoil section model undergoing sinusoidal pitching. J Am Helicopter Soc 64:032004. https://doi.org/10.4050/JAHS.64.032004
Zagaglia D, Giuni M, and Green RB (2018) Investigation of the rotor-obstacle aerodynamic interaction in hovering flight. J Am Helicopter Soc 63:032007–1– 032007–12. https://doi.org/10.4050/JAHS.63.032007
Visingardi A, De Gregorio F, Schwarz T, Schmid M, Bakker R, Voutsinas S, Gallas Q, Boissard R, Gibertini G, Zagaglia D, Barakos G, Green R, Chirico G, and Giuni M (2017) Forces on obstacles in rotor wake—A GARTEUR action group. 43rd European Rotorcraft Forum, 12th-15th September
Pickles D, Green RB, Giuni M (2018) Rotor wake interactions with an obstacle on the ground. Aeronaut J 122(1251):798–820. https://doi.org/10.1017/aer.2018.7
Nathan ND, Green RB (2012) The flow around a model helicopter main rotor in ground effect. Exp Fluids 52(1):151–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-011-1212-1
Savaş Ö, Green RB, and Caradonna FX (2009) Coupled thrust and vorticity dynamics during vortex ring state. J Am Helicopter Soc 54:022001–1–0022001–10, 2009. https://doi.org/10.4050/JAHS.54.022001
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
2.1 Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Supplementary material 1 (mp4 91141 KB)
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Green, R. (2023). Experimental Methods for Aerodynamics. In: Filippone, A., Barakos, G. (eds) Lecture Notes in Rotorcraft Engineering. Springer Aerospace Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12437-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12437-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-12436-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-12437-2
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)