Helicopter Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) occurs under certain conditions of powered descent or during extreme maneuvering. The vibration and acoustic problems associated with the interaction of rotor tip vortices and the following blades are major aerodynamic concerns for the helicopter community. Researchers have performed numerous experimental and computational studies over the last two decades in order to gain a better understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in BVI. The most severe interaction, in terms of generated noise, happens when the vortex filament is parallel to the blade, thus affecting a great portion of it. The majority of the previous numerical studies of parallel BVI fall within a potential flow framework, therefore excluding all viscous phenomena. Some Navier-Stokes approaches using dissipative numerical methods in conjunction with RANS-type turbulence models have also been attempted, but with limited success. In this work, the situation is improved by increasing the fidelity of both the numerical method and the turbulence model. A kinetic-energy conserving finite-volume scheme using a collocated-mesh arrangement, specially designed for simulation of turbulence in complex geometries, was implemented. For the turbulence model, a cost-effective zonal hybrid RANS/LES technique is used. A BANS zone covers the boundary layers on the airfoil and the wake region behind, while the remainder of the flow field, including the region occupied by the vortex makes up the dynamic LES zone. The concentrated tip vortex is not attenuated as it is convected downstream and over a NACA 0012 airfoil. The lift, drag, moment and friction coefficients induced by the passage of the vortex are monitored in time and compared with experimental data.
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