Rooks S(DERA), Hayward L(DERA) & Smith AG.
The use of PHOENICS for modelling helicopter flowfields.

Publication:

The Electro-Optic Signatures section at DERA Farnborough is concerned with prediction of the infrared signature of air-vehicle platforms. In order to evaluate the thermal characteristics of the airframe surface and exhaust gas flow field for a given flight condition, a series of codes have been developed which use PHOENICS as the core solver. These codes are collectively known as SAPPHIRE. One of the more complex modules of SAPPHIRE, the Helicopter model, considers the interaction of exhaust gases with the main and tail rotors, an essential pre-requisite for accurate prediction of the resulting flow field and hard body infrared signature. This paper will provide an overview of the SAPPHIRE Helicopter Model, including grid generation, incorporation of sub-models, boundary condition representation, and conclude with some recent flow field evaluation exercises. Crown Copyright.

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