Investigation into the Aerodynamic Performance of the Tiltrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Proprotor

Choi, Seung Wook; Kim, Jai Moo

doi:10.2514/1.47533

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…The influence of tilting angle is imperative for rotor blades that are transitioning from hovering to forward flight operation, as this could severely change the loading of the rotor. Previously conducted aerodynamic investigations on tilt-rotor system, such as found in [2][3][4][5][6][7], have observed unsteady loading responses by the system. They attributed it to the non-linear aerodynamic characteristics which occur due to the non-axial inflow operating conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics Characterisation of Isolated Rotor in Hover and Transition to Forward Flight

Jamaluddin

Çelik

Baskaran

et al. 2021

Aiaa Aviation 2021 Forum

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The characteristics of aerodynamic noise and thrust of an isolated tilt-rotor system were experimentally investigated at hover and multiple tilting positions of the rotor disc. In this study, the effects of rotational speed, freestream flow velocity, and tilt angle were examined in an anechoic wind tunnel. Load measurements and far-field acoustic pressure measurements were performed in static condition and under freestream velocities ranging from 8 m/s to 24 m/s. Tests were conducted at a rotor diameter-based advance ratio between 0 and 0.3, and at rotor shaft tilt angle spanning from 0°to 30°. The aerodynamic coefficients, the sound power spectral density and the sound pressure level were studied and discussed. The results demonstrate dependency between the loading and noise signatures to the rotor tilting position. At a settings of rotation speed and freestream inflow velocity, the results show a significant noise attenuation at a higher tilting angle while maintaining a similar directivity of far-field noise radiation. However, at the same setting of rotational speed and inflow velocity, the aerodynamic thrust generating capability of the rotor is adversely affected by the rotor disc tilting angle.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics Characterisation of Isolated Rotor in Hover and Transition to Forward Flight

Jamaluddin

Çelik

Baskaran

et al. 2021

Aiaa Aviation 2021 Forum

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“…2,3 Many investigators study the aerodynamics of tiltrotor aircrafts. Choi and Kim 4 simulate the flow around the prop-rotor, and estimate the aerodynamic performance for a tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle numerically and experimentally. The numerical model is established using CFD-Fastran and the aerodynamic performance of the prop-rotor is obtained for several tilt angles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerodynamic performance of a small-scale tilt rotor: Numerical simulation and experiment in steady state

Hai-tao

Xia

Wang

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C:

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The present work studies the aerodynamic performance of a small-scale rotor in tilting transition states through wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations. Firstly, the test platform for the rotor aerodynamics is built up, and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of flow field around the rotors is established based on the multiple reference frame method. Secondly, the effects of flow velocity, tilt angle and advance ratio on the aerodynamic performance of the rotor are investigated using both the numerical simulation and the wind tunnel test. It is found that for the Model 8038 rotor with maximum effeciency of 0.567 at advance ratio of 0.43, the rotor thrust coefficient increases with the increase of the Reynolds number. At Reynolds number of 410 thousand to 820 thousand, the thrust coefficient increases slightly with the increase of the rotating speed. The results also show that the thrust coefficient decreases with the increase of the advance ratio. With high-speed airflow and relatively low-speed rotation, “windmill” phenomenon is found in the experiment. The tilting of the rotor from level flight to hovering increases the thrust coefficient. Highly dependency of the tilt angle on the thrust coefficients at given advance ratios is found in the wind tunnel tests.

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Development of Practical Tiltrotor UAV

Choi

Lee

Chang

et al. 2012

50th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

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A Practical Tiltrotor UAV (PTUAV) has been developed and flight tests are under way. The PTUAV was motivated to pursue low cost and high performance while the full-scale tiltrotor UAV development experience was reflected. The PTUAV was targeted to develop a UAV system which has capabilities of VTOL and faster-than-helicopter forward speed with practical mission load adjusting the lower cost and weight. Vehicle sizing was performed using simple analytical method and scaling full scale vehicle parameters. The rotor and drive system of PTUAV were designed reflecting the full-scale concept but simple and unique concept was adopted. An ironbird for the rotor-drive-engine was fabricated and tested on the ground to reduce risks in integration and to facilitate measurements and modifications. The air vehicle was designed and fabricated reflecting the ironbird test. The flight control system covering the test from ground to conversion flight was constructed and tested. A tethered test was conducted for the verification of flight control logic in heli-mode flight prior to flight test. Currently flight tests are under way after integration issues were resolved from ground tests with the platform.

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Investigation into the Aerodynamic Performance of the Tiltrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Proprotor

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics Characterisation of Isolated Rotor in Hover and Transition to Forward Flight

Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics Characterisation of Isolated Rotor in Hover and Transition to Forward Flight

Aerodynamic performance of a small-scale tilt rotor: Numerical simulation and experiment in steady state

Development of Practical Tiltrotor UAV

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