Preliminary Design of a TE Morphing Surface for Rotorcraft

Zahoor, Yasir; Breuker, Roeland De; Voskuijl, Mark

doi:10.2514/6.2020-1301

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The RF estimated numerically serves as the maximum force required by the actuator to deflect the flap based on the worst-case load scenario. It must be noted that when the aerodynamic force is also considered, its effect is included either by calculating the flap hinge moment [30] or by transferring the forces from the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) [31].…”

Section: Flap Skin Design and Actuator Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Testing of an Active Trailing Edge Morphing Demonstrator for a Rotary Wing

Zahoor

Sodja

Breuker

et al. 2021

ASME 2021 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems

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This paper discusses the development and whirl tower testing of an active translation induced camber morphing system for rotorcraft. The system deploys the morphing flap based on the amplitude and type of the input signal. As a case study, a demonstrator is developed and tested primarily under the centrifugal force generated by a whirl tower setup. The actuation system consists of amplified piezoelectric actuators, while the morphing skin is made out of carbon fiber prepreg composite material. The response of the morphing skin and the actuators is measured and compared to the numerical studies used to design the morphing demonstrator. Results indicate that the response of the active system, including the actuators and the flexible skin, matches well to those predicted during the numerical studies. The outcome of these studies shows that the system has the potential to be used for the primary control of the rotorcraft if operated at 1/revolution or for mitigating noise and vibration if operated at 2/revolution or higher frequencies. Subsequently, the concept can be integrated into a Mach-scaled rotor blade which can be tested under both aerodynamic and centrifugal loads to further assess its performance.

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Section: Flap Skin Design and Actuator Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Testing of an Active Trailing Edge Morphing Demonstrator for a Rotary Wing

Zahoor

Sodja

Breuker

et al. 2021

ASME 2021 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems

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“…Room, weight, and shape constraints are really hard to meet with traditional technology, even considering the necessity connected to the cabling, installation, maintenance, and so on. It should be noted that the literature is rich with examples that target the blade morphing through non-monolithic devices, originally conceived and deployed [11][12][13]. It is clear that devices with minimal intrusiveness, easiness of command, and with the capability of addressing load-bearing issues, maybe substituting original elements, would be very suitable for that scope.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System

et al. 2022

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This paper focuses on the development and demonstration of a novel blade morphing system within a whirl tower facility. The scope is to investigate the behavior of the proposed architecture under representative loads, demonstrating its capability to alter the blade original shape in operation under centrifugal, aerodynamic, and internal forces. The morphing concept was developed inside the European project “Shape Adaptive Blades for Rotorcraft Efficiency”, SABRE, and consists of a shape memory alloy system able to change the original twist law and, in this way, enhance rotor performance at certain specific regimes, such as hover and vertical flight. These phases, indeed, are generally penalized with respect to other more extended flight regimes (cruise). The work starts with an overview of the research in the field of morphing, with specific reference to the researches envisaging rotary wing demonstrations. Then, an overview of the morphing twist concept is provided, with particular attention paid to those features particularly suited for the whirl tower representative test environment. The laboratory characterization and commissioning operations are illustrated. Then, the task of the installation of the prototype on the whirl tower facility is described together with the testing modality adopted. Finally, the results of the test campaign are illustrated and critically discussed, providing the reader with insights and possible future steps to be taken in further research. The impact on the morphing capability of the following different parameters was investigated: the number of the prototype segments switched on, the speed and thus the centrifugal actions, and the angles of attack. The stiffening effect due to centrifugal actions was quantified through the measurement of the actual twist and the internal deformation. The link between speed, angle of attack at root, and twist and flap angles was also tracked, building a database useful for the comprehension of the phenomenon, and for the assessment of numerical predictive models. The achieved results highlighted the capability of the system to produce a twist angle matching the target of 8° per blade radius; this figure is related to a potential power saving of 10% in hover and vertical flight and an improvement of about 1% on the over-all efficiency of the rotorcraft.

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