Coarse Parallelization of RCAS Supporting Multi-Rotor and eVTOL Configurations

Effective development of emerging vertical lift solutions, including eVTOL and hybrid-propulsion configurations, demands efficient and accurate analysis tools. Due to similarities between conventional rotorcraft and eVTOL configurations, many of the critical technologies needed for analysis of eVTOL are available in existing rotorcraft comprehensive analysis tools. However, unique features of eVTOL configurations pose challenges that limit the accuracy and efficiency of existing analysis codes. In this paper we present a coarse parallelization strategy applied to RCAS that significantly reduces the computation time of multi-rotor and eVTOL configurations. Verification has been performed for trim and maneuver analysis for various aerodynamic inflow models, including Viscous Vortex Particle Method (VVPM) and CFD coupling. Linearization, eigenanalysis and modal reduction were part of the stability analysis verification. A feature to automatically generate parallel RCAS setup files from a standard RCAS script was developed in GRCAS (GUI version of RCAS) for ease of use. Additionally, a new parallel processing window was added to GRCAS to facilitate executing and monitoring paralellized models.