Efficient computation of horizontal stabilizer incidence angle for low pitching moments based on actuator model

Abstract In the forward flight state of the helicopter, the interaction between the main rotor downwash airflow and the horizontal stabilizer at the fuselage end generates a pitching moment, which can be mitigated by changing the incidence angle of the horizontal stabilizer to improve the flight safety. The calculation method proposed in this paper simplifies the main rotor to actuator disk model and the horizontal stabilizer to actuator line model, which can be used to optimize the angle of incidence without geometric modeling. Numerical experiments can prove the high efficiency and good numerical convergence of this method, and the small pitching moment can still be obtained after considering the geometric model under this angle of incidence, and the comparison of the results under different advance ratios can also prove the effectiveness of this optimization algorithm.