Experimental Study of Helicopter Fuselage Drag

Abstract

Experimental data are presented for the parasite drag of various helicopter fuselage components, such as skids, external fuel tanks, and tailplane. The experiments were conducted at the KNRTU-KAI T-1K wind tunnel, investigating four versions of a fuselage similar to the ANSAT helicopter. It was found that for the range of pitch angles −10°≤ ≤ 10°, the skids added 80% to the drag of the bare fuselage, while the tailplane increased the drag by 20%. At the same conditions, external fuel tanks were found to add 48% to the clean fuselage drag. A simple rotor hub with a tail support added 74% to the bare fuselage in the range of pitch angles −8°≤ ≤ 6°. Streamlining the rear fuselage was found to reduce the drag by 16% over the range of pitch angles −10°≤ ≤ 10°. Apart from the parasite drag, ideas for drag reduction are also discussed. Nomenclature

Static Analysis of Unsteady Aerodynamics Wake of Simplified Helicopter Model Via Simulation Work

“…The main rotor hub caused an increase in drag by 230% around the fuselage [14]. The parasite drag was supported by another researcher stated in an experimental paper on fuselage drag where the existence of the main rotor hub caused the increase of drag by from 48% at an angle of attack of -10˚ to 62% between 0˚ to 10˚ [15]. It was also stated that the main rotor hub was a major contribution to the tail shake phenomenon where the unsteady wake caused the tremor on the vertical tail, which produced vibration along with the tail boom, which reduced the performance and responsive quality [11].…”

“…Stepanov et al, [15], and Batrakov et al, [17]. The existence of the main rotor hub caused the increase of drag by from 48% at an angle of attack of -10˚, while the result tabulated in 1 showed 57.39% on the fuselage and 42.61% on the rotor at -5˚ angle of attack [15].…”

“…Meanwhile, Stepanov et al, [15] stated that the drag force of 62% between 0˚ to 10˚ was compared with the result tabulated, showed variant by 4.62%, from the drag force at -5˚, of 57.39%. Moreover, it was indicated that almost 70% of the total drag was from the fuselage and the remaining 30% was due to the rotor head itself [6,17].…”

Numerical study of aerodynamic drag of modern attack helicopters

“…calculations of the corresponding layouts [15]. In this work, the task was to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the body with all the above-mentioned layout elements.…”

Single rotor helicopter parasite drag estimation in the preliminary design stage

“…Za stajni trap u obliku skija, postoji veliki broj rezultata dobijenih aerotunelskim i CFD istraživanjima. U pitanju su modeli trupa sa repom kome su sukcesivno dodavani različiti izvori otpora, čime je određivan doprinos svakog elementa na ukupni parazitni otpor [5], [21], [22], [27], [29], [30], [31].…”