Numerical Simulation and Experimental Validation of Small-rotor Aerodynamic Characteristics

Aerodynamic characteristics of small-rotor were studied based on the finite volume method. In an attempt to study its performance, hovering flow field of the single-rotor was established, meanwhile, the boundary conditions were set up. In addition, flow field was analyzed numerically by using computational fluid dynamics method (CFD) which aimed at obtaining the distribution of surface pressure, the diagram of velocity vector and the flow chart of flow field. Simultaneously, the coefficients of lift and drag were acquired by data processing. In the analysis of the distribution features got from the numerical simulation of flow field, aerodynamic characteristics of the rotor were revealed generally. Equally important, experimental research and hover test stand were also designed to measure the actual thrust and power consumption of the system. Compared the results of numerical simulation with experimental verification, the speed range of higher lift-to-drag ratio and lower power consumption of a single-rotor were obtained.