Abstract: In order to acquire helicopter skin temperature distribution, practical ways of modeling the helicopter skin, exhaust system, rotor downwash and solar irradiance are introduced in simulation. A numerical study is conducted and an integrative exhaust system-tail airframe scaled model is tested. The results show that: 1) because of radiation transfer, the temperature on the tail airframe skin around the mixing nozzle is about 15 K higher than the ambient temperature; 2) the temperature distribution on the single-wall skin is seriously affected by inner hot sources, while the temperature on the double-wall skin with radiation-resistance is close to ambient temperature; 3) the temperature on the direct solar irradiance side of the helicopter body is obviously higher than on the other side; the temperature increase is about 18 K in certain areas.

Key words: infrared radiation, temperature distribution, rotor downwash, solar irradiation, helicopters