This work presents the correlation between experimental measurements and numerical simulations concerning the aerodynamics of a hovering rotor operating in ground effect above parallel and inclined surfaces. The capability of a potential-flow, free-wake aerodynamic solver based on a boundary-element-method formulation to simulate in-ground-effect problems is examined in detail. In particular, two approaches for including ground effect are outlined and compared, namely the bounded domain method and the mirror image method. Analyses of rotor aerodynamic performance and flow-field visualization reveal that the experimental data and the numerical predictions given by the solver based on the mirror-image method are in good agreement, thus proving the suitability of this developed computational tool to simulate rotor aerodynamics in the presence of close ground. Concerning the bounded domain method, it has been proven that it is suitable for the evaluation of rotor thrust and wake shape close to the rotor, but does not provide accurate simulation of the flow-field in proximity to the ground and corresponding inflow over the rotor disk.

这项工作提出了实验测量和数值模拟之间的相关性，这些数值涉及在平行和倾斜表面上方以地面效应运行的悬停转子的空气动力学特性。详细研究了基于边界元方法公式化的势流自由苏醒式气动求解器模拟地面效应问题的能力。特别地，概述并比较了两种包括地面效应的方法，即有界域方法和镜像方法。转子空气动力性能和流场可视化分析表明，求解器基于镜像方法的实验数据和数值预测吻合良好，因此证明了这种发达的计算工具在存在近地面的情况下模拟转子空气动力学的适用性。关于有界域方法，已证明该方法适用于评估靠近转子的转子推力和尾流形状，但不能准确模拟靠近地面的流场以及转子上相应的入流磁盘。