Dr Neale Watson MEng, PhD

Due to their unique operational capabilities, rotorcraft routinely provide essential services such as air ambulance transport to hospitals, the transport of crew and freight, equipment inspection, and in emergencies, evacuation missions to offshore platforms, and extended tactical capability including anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, troop transfer and supply replenishment at sea to modern combat ships. However, due to the presence of strong winds, the pilot is often faced with a dangerous and difficult task during operations to the helipad/helideck. The deterioration of flying conditions may limit rotorcraft operations, resulting in a reduction in the capability of the hospital to receive air ambulance patients for expeditive lifesaving treatment, significant commercial penalties in the case of offshore platforms, or a reduction in the operational capability for maritime rotorcraft.

By understanding the aerodynamics in these challenging environments, the effect on the helicopter and the pilot can be analysed and assessed. Such Investigations have to the potential to allow recommendations of design changes recommendations of the superstructure, or suggested flight trajectories to limit the effect of the aerodynamic environment on rotorcraft operations.

Current research is being conducted into the use of modelling and simulation tools to analyse the aerodynamic environment and its effect on rotorcraft operations. Unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics, CFD, is used to generate the airflow cascading over and around the geometry near the helipad/helideck. The unsteady velocities are then integrated with a helicopter flight dynamics model in a 6 degree-of-freedom motion flight simulator and used to assess the effect of the environment on the pilot. Experimental velocity data is measured using Acoustic Doppler Velocimetry, ADV, in the large recirculating water channel and used to validate the CFD solution.