Aerodynamic and Aeroelastic Analysis for Next-Generation Rotorcraft

JAXA Supercomputer System Annual Report February 2025-January 2026

Report Number: R25EDA102C21

Subject Category: Aeronautical Technology

Responsible Representative: Kanako Yasue, Aviation Technology Directorate, Aviation Integration Innocation Hub
Contact Information: Hideaki Sugawara(sugawara.hideaki@jaxa.jp)
Members: Fumihiro Kajiwara, Keita Kimura, Hideaki Sugawara, Yasutada Tanabe

Abstract

The objective of this study is to predict and evaluate the aerodynamic performance of rotorcraft, including high-speed rotorcraft and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, using numerical simulations, thereby contributing to aircraft design. Performance evaluations are conducted through simulations of active technologies aimed at reducing rotor vibration and noise. In addition, aerodynamic analyses of fixed-pitch and variable-pitch rotors used in drones and eVTOL aircraft are performed, and analysis tools are developed to support these evaluations.

Reference URL

N/A

Reasons and benefits of using JAXA Supercomputer System

Accurate resolution of vortical flow around a rotor requires large-scale computational grids and therefore necessitates the use of high-performance computing resources such as supercomputers.

Achievements of the Year

The performance of active technologies and the aerodynamic performance of fixed-pitch and variable-pitch rotors were evaluated. For variable-pitch rotors (Fig. 1), comparisons with wind tunnel test results showed good agreement. Numerical simulations provided insights into the aerodynamic characteristics of variable-pitch rotors.

Fig.1: Flow field visualization around the variable-pitch rotor

Publications

N/A

Usage of JSS

Computational Information

Process Parallelization Methods: N/A
Thread Parallelization Methods: OpenMP
Number of Processes: 1
Elapsed Time per Case: 336 Hour(s)

JSS3 Resources Used

Fraction of Usage in Total Resources*1(%): 0.61

Details

Please refer to System Configuration of JSS3 for the system configuration and major specifications of JSS3.

Computational Resources
System Name	CPU Resources Used (Core x Hours)	Fraction of Usage*2(%)
TOKI-SORA	5596643.19	0.25
TOKI-ST	2725525.34	2.82
TOKI-GP	0.00	0.00
TOKI-XM	0.00	0.00
TOKI-LM	0.00	0.00
TOKI-TST	810948.49	13.25
TOKI-TGP	0.00	0.00
TOKI-TLM	0.00	0.00

File System Resources
File System Name	Storage Assigned (GiB)	Fraction of Usage*2(%)
/home	0.00	0.00
/data and /data2	102400.00	0.67
/ssd	0.00	0.00

Archiver Resources
Archiver Name	Storage Used (TiB)	Fraction of Usage*2(%)
J-SPACE	0.00	0.00

*1: Fraction of Usage in Total Resources: Weighted average of three resource types (Computing, File System, and Archiver).

*2: Fraction of Usage：Percentage of usage relative to each resource used in one year.

ISV Software Licenses Used

ISV Software Licenses Resources
	ISV Software Licenses Used (Hours)	Fraction of Usage*2(%)
ISV Software Licenses (Total)	224.59	0.16

*2: Fraction of Usage：Percentage of usage relative to each resource used in one year.