Rotor Thrust and Power Variations During In-Plane and Orthogonal Vortex Interaction

Kurzfassung

Fixed-wing aircraft trail straight wing tip vortices oriented horizontally for a long distance behind them and both fixed-wing and rotary-wing interactions with such vortices have been investigated in the past. Wind turbines also generate a wake with blade tip vortices spiraling around it. Recently the interaction of sailplanes and rotors with these curved wake vortices have been studied with respect to controllability and in case of rotors to the blade flapping motion developing. This study details the influence of such a vortex-rotor interaction on rotor thrust and power for vortices lying in-plane in the rotor disk and also orthogonal to it.