Modelling of brown/white-out
Host institution
University of Glasgow (UK)
Supervisors
Co-tutoring institution
To be decided: Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) or Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Start date
Strictly before end of May 2017
Duration
36 months + 12 months
Gross salary
44.896,00 € per year
Work location
Mainly Glasgow (UK) and Delft (The Netherlands) or Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Objective
Brownout relates to blinding dust clouds stirred up by the helicopter rotor downwash during near-ground flight. This causes significant flight safety risks, ground obstacle collisions, and dynamic rollover due to sloped and uneven terrain. Operating helicopters in brown and white-out condition is very dangerous and has claimed many lives. This project will investigate the best possible solution for the problem using state-of-the art modeling and simulation methods.
The project builds on the HMB3 tool of Glasgow (www.gla.ac.uk/cfd) that has been successfully used for modelling rotors and their wakes, complete helicopters and tilt-rotors. The project builds on more than 17 years of experience with modelling rotary wings using CFD and parallel computing. At present, sensors, vision and navigation aids are used as means to alleviate the adverse effects of brownout. Modelling and simulation of brown/whiteout is a complex task that may benefit from recent advances in CFD and wake modelling and develop a high-fidelity model.
The project aims to develop data-sets of helicopter wakes with the corresponding distribution functions of airborne particles for use in flight simulators. A first result will be the development of a high-fidelity model for the analysis of the trajectory of airborne particles around a helicopter operating near ground. The model should include the kinematics and dynamics of the particles, a statistical representation of particle sizes as well as models for the agglomeration of particles, the ground pick-up, and ground bombardment. Then, tools like HMB3 in conjunction with free-wake methods can be used in simulators for the modelling of brown/white-out. The envisaged database of brown outs will be developed for use in a real-time simulator. This could be in the form of a particle density function alongside the corresponding wake data, but could also include computer code that will generate in real-time some of the necessary data using a dedicated computer linked to the simulator. Several concepts will be explored for compressing and modelling the data for use in the simulator.
Research profile
This researcher will be working with Universities of Glasgow and Delft towards a double doctorate. Secondments to industry can be performed at CAA to revise current rules, regulation and guidance on operations in brown/white-out, and Bristow to learn about brown-out, white-out, and ship helicopter operations.
Research field
• CFD
• Rotorcraft
• High order methods
• Parallel computing
• Modelling and Simulation
• Turbulence
• Wake Modelling
• Wake Encounters
Requirements
• Degree in aerospace engineering
• Experience with CFD
• Ability to program in C
• Solid background in aerodynamics and fluid mechanics
Type of contract
The successful ESR applicant will be offered a 3-year full-time funded contract by the University of Glasgow. The fourth year will be funded on a separate project details will be discussed during the selection interview.
Additional Eligibility criteria
English language (IELTS overall score 6.5; no sub-test less than 6.0)
