Toward Right-Fidelity Rotorcraft Conceptual Design

Jeffrey Sinsay, Gerardo Nunez
2010 51st AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference 18th AIAA/ASME/AHS Adaptive Structures Conference 12th   unpublished
Increases in computational power and maturation of high-fidelity methods in rotorcraft analysis lead to a reconsideration of the level of fidelity appropriate for conceptual design. Challenges to rotorcraft conceptual design and the implementation of high-fidelity analyses are highlighted. Right-fidelity is the selection of analyses and design fidelity commensurate with the needed certainty in the design performance projections. A set of requirements to enable future right-fidelity conceptual
more » ... sign is put forward. Recent related work, exploring the use of high-fidelity CFD to analyze a tiltorotor configuration in conceptual design has further informed the development of a framework for conceptual design. A proposed framework is established built around the need for a master information/model manager and need to refine the fidelity of the parametric description of the rotorcraft in parallel with the increase in analysis fidelity.
doi:10.2514/6.2010-2756 fatcat:hefvzguakfg5ffo2nfusfob34a