Daley Wylie
(Advisor: Prof. Rauleder]

will defend a master’s thesis entitled,

Experimental and Computational Analysis of Multi-Rotor Aerodynamic Interactions

On

Thursday, April 20 at 12:00 p.m.
Weber 200
 

Abstract
This study aims to perform a comparative analysis of rotor--rotor aerodynamic interactions. This work details an investigation that was performed into the aerodynamic interactions between the rotors of multi-rotor vehicles in different configurations. The effects of these interactions on the thrust and torque of all individual rotors were quantified in wind tunnel tests. Flow visualization and a limited number of particle image velocimetry measurements were conducted to gain further insight into the aerodynamic interactions. The effects of the changes in hub spacings, rotor rotational speeds, and wind speeds were investigated for isolated, tandem, quad-rotor plus and X configurations. The maximum and minimum tip chord Reynolds numbers were 118,000 and 73,000, respectively.  In addition to the experimental work conducted, the groundwork was laid down for the computational aspect, and the plans to complete that portion are laid out in this work. Cartesian Grid Euler Solver (CGE) an advanced adaptive CFD solver that caters to the prediction of the flow over real-life configurations, will be used. This fast, mid-fidelity flow solver will be ideal for modeling the flow topology and important features for the multi-rotor configurations. The simulations will serve to validate experimental data and further investigate the conclusions drawn from it.

Committee

• Prof. Juergen Rauleder – School of Aerospace Engineering (advisor)
• Prof. Marilyn J. Smith – School of Aerospace Engineering
• Prof. Brain German – School of Aerospace Engineering

Microsoft Teams Link

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_OGM0ZWY1ZDktMDUyZC00MDBkLTkwMTQtZTU2ZDdkYWY4MmUw%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22482198bb-ae7b-4b25-8b7a-6d7f32faa083%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22e7b61a8a-badf-4ddb-94aa-3564fefa2bd2%22%7d