Systematic evaluation of the helicopter rotor blades: design variables and interactions

Abstract

Purpose The effects of rotor blade design variables and their mutual interactions on aerodynamic efficiency of helicopters are investigated. The aerodynamic efficiency is defined based on figure of merit (FM) and lift-to-drag responses developed for hover and forward flight, respectively. Design/methodology/approach The approach is to couple a general flight dynamic simulation code, previously validated in the time domain, with design of experiment (DOE) required for the response surface development. DOE includes I-optimality criteria to preselect the data and improve data acquisition process. Desirability approach is also implemented for a better understanding of the optimum rotor blade planform in both hover and forward flight. Findings The resulting system provides a systematic manner to examine the rotor blade design variables and their interactions, thus reducing the time and cost of designing rotor blades. The obtained results show that the blade taper ratio of 0.3, the point of taper initiation of about 0.64 R within a SC1095R8 airfoil satisfy the maximum FM of 0.73 and the maximum lift-to-drag ratio of about 5.5 in hover and forward flight. Practical implications The work shows the practical possibility to implement the proposed optimization process that can be used for the advanced rotor blade design. Originality/value The work presents the rapid and reliable optimization process efficiently used for designing advanced rotor blades in hover and forward flight.

Simultaneous swept anhedral helicopter blade tip shape and control-system design

“…In addition, in the study by Oktay and Sultan (2014) active morphing was very useful, and the active morphing parameters were blade radius, chord length, angular speed and twist. Using this novel approach approximately 85% of the control effort throughout 80 kts SLF condition (visit also other articles such as Ganguli, 2002; Fusato and Celi, 2006; Hodges et al , 2008; Kang et al , 2010; Barbarino, 2011; Vu et al , 2013; Kambampati and Ganguli, 2016; Stalewski and Zalewski, 2019; Shahmiri et al , 2019; and Sal, 2020 for different redesign applications) was saved.…”

Comprehensive Optimization of the Unmanned Tilt-Wing Cargo Aircraft With Distributed Propulsors

“…The multi-disciplinary optimization method has continued to attract researchers' attention in recent years, and is increasingly used in the design process of various new types of aircraft (such as the fly wing [39], unmanned helicopter [40], solar plane [41], and morphing wing aircraft [42,43]) or their components or subsystems [44,45]. However, there is little research on the multidisciplinary optimization for the unmanned DEP tilt-wing cargo aircraft.…”