High-Fidelity Modeling of eVTOL Rotor Unsteady Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Response to Time-Harmonic Gust

<p>The rapid emergence of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) demands accurate prediction and mitigation of noise generated by electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operating in complex urban environments. Among the various noise sources, the aerodynamic and acoustic response of rotors to unsteady inflow represents a major uncertainty in community-noise assessment and certification. This thesis investigates the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic behavior of a representative eVTOL rotor subjected to time-harmonic inflow disturbances, providing a detailed numerical framework to quantify how periodic gusts influence rotor performance, unsteady loading, and sound radiation.</p> <p>The study employs a three-stage computational methodology using the open-source solver \textit{OpenFOAM v2412} coupled with the \textit{PSU-WOPWOP} acoustic post-processor. First, a baseline rotor simulation is conducted under uniform inflow to validate the computational model against experimental data from the Virginia Tech full-scale acoustic measurements of the Joby Aviation 2017 prototype rotor. The comparison of thrust, torque, and sound pressure levels demonstrates close agreement, confirming the accuracy of the selected Spalart--Allmaras Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (SA-DDES) turbulence model. Second, a time-harmonic gust generator is implemented via a localized momentum-source formulation to create convected inflow disturbances with controlled amplitude and frequency, verified to maintain phase and amplitude coherence during propagation. Finally, gust--rotor interaction cases are performed for two inflow amplitudes, representing 10\% and 30\% perturbations of the mean velocity.</p> <p>Results show that while mean thrust and torque remain nearly constant across gust intensities, the unsteady load fluctuations increase in thrust and torque, producing distinct spectral sidebands at the blade-passing frequency. Acoustic analysis reveals modest amplification of tonal components at the BPF, accompanied by slight attenuation of low-frequency radiation. The developed framework contributes to the broader goal of establishing predictive tools for urban aeroacoustic certification and noise-sensitive vehicle design.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Aerospace Engineering

Year

2025

Author dc:creator

• Voropayev, Vadim

• Aerodynamics
• Aeroacoustics
• CFD
• High-Fidelity Simulations
• Gust
• Turbulence
• DDES
• Noise
• Performance
• Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics
• Aeronautical Vehicles
• Other Aerospace Engineering

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.erau.edu/edt/950

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.erau.edu:edt-1994