Rotors are the source of the lifting force for helicopters. The rotors
mounted at the top of the fuselage revolve to generate air pressures both
above and under the airfoil, resulting in a pressure gradient which enables
the aircraft to fly when the lift from below exceeds its weight. In the
meanwhile, influenced by the downwash airflow and vortex arising from
the rotor spinning, the flow field around the rotor becomes complex and
unpredictable. Because of the difficulty of measuring rotor-related flow
field data under laboratory conditions, this study attempts to simulate the
flow field of the rotor by means of a numerical simulation, and compute the
forces received at different parts of the airfoil surface. To accurately
simulate the minute flow field phenomena when the rotor is in motion, this
study employed the Sliding Mesh Model (SMM) to simulate the revolving
movement of the rotor. The flow field around the rotor was numerically
calculated using the Finite Volume Method (FVM). In addition, with respect
to the accuracy and stability of the numerical simulation, this study has
carried out an in-depth investigation and analysis using varying mesh
numbers and time step settings. By comparing and verifying the results of
numerical simulation against the experimental data, it was confirmed that
the numerical computation model presented in this study could be
effectively applied to flow field analysis for helicopter rotors, as well as to
their configuration designs.