Aerodynamic simulations of an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft using reformulated vortex particle method.

This article focuses on the aerodynamic interactions between rotors and fixed wings in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft with a parallel rotor–wing layout. Using a meshless computational fluid dynamics framework based on the reformulated vortex particle method (rVPM) combined with a vorticity-based actuator surface model (ASM), the study simulates rotor–wing interactions under vertical takeoff, hover, and forward flight conditions. Results indicate that rotor slipstreams significantly increase local lift on the wing by enhancing effective velocity and circulation, especially during forward flight, while the wing presence moderately affects the lift coefficients of rear rotors but not front lift or thrust rotors. The findings provide insights into optimizing eVTOL aerodynamic layouts by capturing complex, time-varying rotor–wing wake interactions with validated numerical and experimental comparisons.