An Innovative Aerodynamic Solver for Rotorcraft Preliminary Design

This thesis presents a novel aerodynamic solver for lifting bodies that extends lifting-line theory to deliver higher fidelity and improved unsteady modeling. Building on a time-domain reformulation of the Kussner-Schwarz model, the method is first validated on fixed-wing cases against its frequency-domain counterpart and then generalized to rotary-wing configurations to assess performance under wake interactions and varying reduced frequencies. To reconcile analytical insight with numerical flexibility, a dedicated vortex-filament free-wake model is developed, providing a hybrid framework that captures complex wake dynamics while controlling computational cost. The resulting solver offers a practical balance between accuracy and efficiency for unsteady aerodynamic analyses.