Unsteady Simulations of a Generic Isolated Tractor Contra-Rotating Propeller with the DLR TAU-Code

Kurzfassung

Having proven its utility for the simulation of single rotation propellers (SRP), the unstructured DLR TAU-Code has been applied to the unsteady simulation of isolated contra-rotating propeller (CRP) configurations. In order to demonstrate the codes applicability to the numerical analysis of this type of propulsion system, a generic tractor contra-rotating propeller configuration with eight blades per rotor was chosen and unsteady Euler and RANS simulations for a low-speed take-off case at angle of attack were performed. The results obtained allow for a detailed analysis of the complex aerodynamic interactions between the two rotors as well as an in-depth analysis of the blade and rotor forces.