Research Trip to Politecnico di Milano: Advancing Propeller and Rotorcraft Propulsion

The AAPS CDT International Travel Scheme award gave me the opportunity to complete a short research visit to the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Milano which is one of Europe’s leading research centres for rotorcraft and multibody dynamics research and home to several open-source simulation tools that are fundamental to my PhD research. This visit was valuable in contributing to a chapter of my PhD research that helps in increasing my knowledge in computational aeroelasticity.

My PhD research focuses on understanding and enhancing the passenger comfort in Urban/Advanced Air Mobility (UAM/AAM) vehicles through developing novel tools and methods in order to assess comfort during the design phase. A critical milestone for this project is investigating the complex vibrations caused by the aerodynamic propeller interactions. During my visit at PoliMi, I focused on gaining knowledge in multibody simulations, rotorcraft aerodynamics and combining them for a multidisciplinary workflow. Working alongside the aerospace research group gave me the chance to learn these methods directly from the developers and those who maintain them. This improved my understanding of the underlying physics and my confidence in developing dedicated models for rotorcraft and their propulsion system.

I also attended lectures delivered by the developers of the open-source software I utilize for my project in Aerospace Department of PoliMi – who are among the leading experts in aerospace engineering. Moreover, I had the opportunity to attend “Multibody Summer School 2026” – an international summer school bringing together researchers from across different institutions in Europe where they present their latest research or methods – held in Lecco from 8 to 11 June 2026. Being a more general course, this has broadened my understanding of the multibody physics beyond the scope of my PhD topic.

In addition to learning, the research visit gave me a valuable opportunity to start collaborative work with other researchers for an upcoming conference at the Asian Rotorcraft Forum titled “Dynamic Analysis of Lift and Cruise Advanced Air Mobility”, “Effect of Gust Response on Comfort in eVTOL Aircraft”. Moreover, collaboration in experimental UAM comfort is planned work involving an additional subjective comfort analysis that will be a valuable contribution to my research.

This research visit had a substantial and lasting impact on my research. It has not only strengthened my technical skillset but also expanded my professional network. I am very grateful to the AAPS CDT for funding this valuable opportunity. It has been one of the most valuable stages of my PhD so far.