Throughout history, human curiosity and the desire to explore have driven advancements in engineering capabilities and technologies. These efforts have extended our reach beyond Earth, with Mars emerging as one of the most important targets for planetary exploration. While rovers and landers have traditionally been used to study planetary surfaces, rotorcraft and other aerial vehicles have recently shown great promise for exploring the Red Planet. Such vehicles can access diverse terrains that are difficult or impossible for conventional landers and rovers to reach. However, the unique characteristics of the Martian atmosphere present significant aerodynamic challenges that must be overcome to enable sustained and efficient flight. Successful operation under these conditions requires a deep understanding of low Reynolds number aerodynamics, due to the rarefied atmosphere, and the influence of environmental factors such as pervasive Martian dust.

The combination of low Reynolds number flows and suspended dust particles creates unique challenges for rotorcraft aerodynamics on Mars. This thesis investigates these challenges through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, focusing on the performance of a cambered plate airfoil with 6% camber and 1% thickness, which is well suited to the Martian environment. The research addresses both fundamental aerodynamic phenomena and environmental effects, providing insights into model selection for accurate flow prediction, sensitivity of performance to Reynolds number variations, and the long-term impact of dust accumulation on airfoil behavior.

This work presents a comprehensive overview of the evolution of drone designs for planetary exploration, emphasizing the main aerodynamic and control challenges involved. Operating in planetary atmospheres introduces unique difficulties, particularly due to the low chord-based Reynolds numbers and the presence of floating dust particles that can affect both aerodynamics and system reliability. The aerodynamic behavior at Reynolds numbers on the order of 10⁴ is investigated, focusing on the effect of increasing the rotor or chord dimension. Results show that increasing the Reynolds number from 20,000 to 50,000 does not significantly improve performance, as the formation of Laminar Separation Bubbles (LSBs) on the surface still occurs. The transition model used, γ–Re_θ, is able to accurately capture bubble formation. However, its limitations are also identified through comparison with other models, among which  γ–Re_θ is found to be the most reliable transition RANS model for these flows, since k-k_L-ω fails to reproduce the correct post-stall behavior. Unsteady Navier–Stokes (UNS) simulations exhibit the same inability due to the absence of turbulence modeling; however, their lower computational cost makes them suitable for preliminary studies and acceptable for low angles of attack.

The accumulation of dust particles on the airfoil surface is also examined, showing that particle deposition alters the airfoil geometry and leads to measurable changes in aerodynamic performance. While the effect is modest in the short term, it could become significant over long exposure times. The results are obtained under simplifying assumptions, such as a smooth surface and no detachment of particles. Further refinement is achieved by simulating particle deposition on an airfoil exposed solely to wind, where the wind velocity is modeled using a simple stochastic approach. The simulations account for both particle accumulation and instantaneous detachment during the run, and additional detachment is evaluated in a post-processing step. The resulting surface modification is then used to study its effect on the aerodynamic performance, providing a more complete understanding of how dust environments influence drone operation in planetary exploration.

Overall, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of low Reynolds number aerodynamics and environmental degradation mechanisms relevant to Martian rotorcraft. The results offer guidance for aerodynamic model selection, design optimization, and long-term operational strategies for future aerial exploration missions on Mars.