A Distributed Design Environment for Rotorcraft

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is currently developing a new environment for integrated rotorcraft design. This paper describes the fundamental features and approaches to generate the related design processes. The lessons learned from the DLR activities on fixed-wing design lead to the usage of distributed computation and the implantation of the CPACS data model adapted and extended for rotorcraft design. These activities are a DLR internal cooperation of the Institute of Flight Systems, the Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology, and the Institute of Structures and Design. The tools implemented cover the conceptual and partly the preliminary design phase. Here the disciplines of sizing approaches, geometry generation, aerodynamic properties, mass estimation, and flight performance are considered. A quick design study is performed for a helicopter with typical HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) capabilities.