Citation

Grosshans H, Szász RZ, Papalexandris MV. Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 2017; 64: 31-38.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ast.2017.01.014

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A helicopter flying through an atmosphere containing particulates may accumulate high electrostatic charges which can challenge its operational safety. In this paper we elaborate and validate a triboelectric charging model to predict the electrification experienced by a helicopter while hovering in dusty air. We employed Large Eddy simulations to describe the turbulent structures inherent in the flow around the rotorcraft. The dust particles were tracked individually in a Lagrangian framework. A model accounting for the triboelectric charge transfer when a particle hits the helicopter was introduced. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed approach and allow a detailed analysis of the location of the charge accumulation.

Language: en

Keywords

Aerospace; Electrostatics; Particulate flows; Safety