Computational Investigation of a Multirotor eVTOL Undergoing Hover, Forward, and Maneuvering Flight

A high-fidelity computational study is conducted to investigate the aerodynamic behavior and flight response of an electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) multirotor configuration using unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework. Four simulation cases are considered to examine the vehicle aerodynamics under both prescribed and fully coupled conditions. Prescribed hover and forward-flight cases isolate rotor aerodynamics and rotor-airframe interactions under constrained kinematics. Six-degree-of-freedom (6-DoF) free-flight maneuvering simulations capture the coupled evolution of aerodynamic loads, vehicle attitude, and translational motion. The results demonstrate that the high-fidelity unsteady CFD framework, coupled with rigid-body dynamics, effectively resolves the tightly coupled aerodynamic–dynamic interactions inherent to eVTOL configurations. This work provides a foundation for future investigations into trim strategies, control modeling, and expanded flight envelopes.