Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) 2008
2008 Paper No. 8175 Page 1 of 12
Physical Modeling of Helicopter Rotorwash Environments for
Enhanced Crew Training
Jeffrey D. Keller, Daniel A. Wachspress, Todd R. Quackenbush
Continuum Dynamics, Inc.
Ewing, New Jersey
jeff@continuum-dynamics.com, dan@continuum-dynamics.com, todd@continuum-dynamics.com
ABSTRACT
Military rotorcraft operations have grown in mission capability such that these aircraft are critical
components in numerous combat and non-combat missions. Simulation provides a valuable tool for
training aircrews and ground personnel during mission rehearsal of rotorcraft operations, which at times
can involve coordination between multiple personnel. A critical aspect of ensuring that personnel receive
effective training is the inclusion of physics-based models that account for the effects of rotorcraft
operations, in particular, the effects of rotorwash, on the simulated environment. These effects have
become more critical with the use of heavy lift rotorcraft and tiltrotors, which may potentially introduce a
significant rotorwash hazard to ground personnel. It is highly desirable to identify enhanced models for
rotorwash effects in simulation to yield highly effective training environments. This paper describes initial
work on an advanced simulation capability for modeling helicopter rotorwash effects in a dynamic virtual
training environment. The central element is a real-time, physically-based rotorwash model that is used to
capture interactions between the helicopter and environment. A proof-of-concept rotorwash physics
engine has been developed that simulates the response of dynamic objects (including rigid bodies and
flexible objects such as cables) due to flight operations near the ground and ship flight decks. By using a
physics-based approach, it is possible to represent the dynamic environment and provide proper training
cues over a broad range of operational scenarios. The paper discusses the rotorwash physics engine
development that combines an advanced rotorcraft flow model with a commercial off the shelf (COTS)
multi-body physics engine. Results from representative applications are provided, including an application
that presents regions of potential rotorwash hazards in a simplified manner for ground personnel training.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jeffrey D. Keller is an Associate with Continuum Dynamics, Inc. in Ewing, New Jersey, where he has
been since 1997. His professional interests include air vehicle aerodynamics and flight dynamics modeling
and aircraft flight controls development, and he has led several flight dynamics and simulation projects for
unmanned aircraft systems and shipboard dynamic interface environments. He received a Ph.D. from the
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University in 1998 and also received
B.A. and M.Eng. degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1990 and
1991, respectively.
Daniel A. Wachspress is a Senior Associate with Continuum Dynamics, Inc., where he has been directly
involved in the research, development and implementation of rotorcraft computer models for over twenty
years. He is the chief architect for numerous analysis and simulation tools for rotorcraft and has led the
development of real-time rotor wake models for real-time simulation applications. He earned B.S.E. and
M.S.E. degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1980 and 1982.
