CFD Modeling Framework Development for Robust Rotorcraft Design

Reducing development cycles, developing advanced capabilities at reduced technical risk, and containing overall program development costs are key goals of next generation rotorcraft development programs. Achieving these goals requires a significant investment in digital transformation in all phases of the aircraft development; design, test, manufacturing, and certification. CFD tools have traditionally been used to shape and influence various aspects of rotorcraft design. However, workflow inefficiencies typically limit use of CFD to key flight conditions of the rotorcraft flight envelope. Robust design requires analytical design assessments across a very broad range of environmental conditions - ambient temperature, wind, gross weight etc., across a very broad range of rotorcraft mission spectra. Development of a CFD modeling framework and streamlining/automating all building blocks for rotorcraft CFD analysis is essential to enabling robust analysis driven design. This paper provides an overview of the digital transformation efforts on CFD modeling framework development for rotorcraft design and productivity improvement realized on practical use cases with ongoing work.