Numerical and experimental analysis on the helicopter rotor dynamic load controlled by the actively trailing edge flap

Reducing the rotor dynamic load is an important issue to improve the performance and reliability of a helicopter. The control mechanism of the actively controlled flap on the rotor dynamic load is numerically and experimentally investigated by a 3-blade helicopter rotor in this paper. In the aero-elastic numerical approach, the complex motion of the rotor such as the stretching, bending, torsion and pitching of the blade including the deflection of the actively controlled flap (ACF) are all taken into consideration in the structural formulation. The aerodynamic solution adopted the vortex lattice method combining with the free wake model, in which the influence of ACF on the free wake and the aerodynamic load on the blade is taken into account as well. While the experimental method of measuring hub loads and acoustic was accomplished by a rotor rig in a wind tunnel. The result shows that the 3/rev ACF actuation can reduce the $3\omega$ hub load by more than 50\% at maximum, which is significantly better than the 4/rev control. While 4/rev has greater potential to reduce BVI loads than 3/rev with $\mu=0.15$. Further mechanistic analysis shows that by changing the phase difference between the dynamic load on the flap and the rest of the blade, the peak load on the whole blade can be improved, thus achieving effective control of the hub dynamic load, the flap reaches the minimum angle of attack at 90°-100° azimuth under best control condition; when the BVI load is perfectly controlled, the flap reaches the minimum angle of attack at 140° azimuth, and by changing the circulation of the wake, the intensity of blade vortex interaction in the advancing side is improved. Moreover, an interesting finding in the optimal control of noise and vibration is that an overlap point exist on the motion patterns of the flap with different frequencies.

Towards a Battery-Free Wake-Up Radio

This paper proposes a contribution to the development of autonomous wake-up radios from the energy supply perspective. More precisely, a rectifier circuit, designed and manufactured in order to provide the energy needed for a quasi passive wake-up radio receiver (WuRx). The WuRx is intended to operate continuously and to ensure a zero energy consumption in standby mode.After the presentation of the said WuRx, the energy requirement for its power supply is defined. Then, the energy harvesting circuit, able to power up the quasi-passive WuRx, is designed, implemented, and then measured. Compared to the state of the art, the energy harvester that we present here is among the few recent designs that replaced the matching network lumped component by butterfly stubs, which brings compactness to the circuit. The rectifier is built on a high efficiency substrate which increases its performance and reduces its form factor.

Load prediction of hingeless helicopter rotors including drivetrain dynamics

In contrast to analyses with constrained hub speed, the present study includes the dynamic response of coupled rotor-drivetrain modes in the aeromechanic simulation of rotor blade loads. The structural model of the flexible Bo105 rotor-drivetrain system is coupled to aerodynamics modeled by an analytical formulation of unsteady blade element loads combined with a generalized dynamic wake or a free wake, respectively. For two flight states, i. e. cruise flight and large blade loading, a time-marching autopilot trim of the rotor-drivetrain system in wind tunnel configuration is performed. The simulation results are compared to those of a baseline case with constant rotor hub speed. The comparison reveals a major change in the blade passage frequency harmonics of the lead-lag loads. Beside the full drivetrain model, reduced models are shown to accurately represent the drivetrain influence on blade loads, if the eigenfrequency of the coupled second collective lead-lag/drivetrain mode is properly predicted. In a sensitivity analysis, this eigenfrequency is varied by stiffness modification of a reduced drivetrain model. The resulting changes in blade loads are correlated to this eigenfrequency, which serves as a simple though accurate classification of the drivetrain regarding its influence on vibratory blade loads. Finally, the potential to improve lead-lag load predictions by application of a drivetrain model is demonstrated through the comparison of simulated loads with measurements from a wind tunnel test.

Impact of Tip-Vortex Modeling Uncertainty on Helicopter Rotor Blade–Vortex Interaction Noise Prediction

Free-wake models are routinely used in aeroacoustic analysis of helicopter rotors; however, their semiempiricism is accompanied with uncertainty related to the modeling of physical wake parameters. In some cases, analysts have to resort to empirical adaption of these parameters based on previous experimental evidence. This paper investigates the impact of inherent uncertainty in wake aerodynamic modeling on the robustness of helicopter rotor aeroacoustic analysis. A free-wake aeroelastic rotor model is employed to predict high-resolution unsteady airloads, including blade–vortex interactions. A rotor aeroacoustics model, based on integral solutions of the Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings equation, is utilized to calculate aerodynamic noise in the time domain. The individual analytical models are incorporated into an uncertainty analysis numerical procedure, implemented through nonintrusive Polynomial Chaos expansion. The potential sources of uncertainty in wake tip-vortex core growth modeling are identified and their impact on noise predictions is systematically quantified. When experimental data to adjust the tip-vortex core model are not available the uncertainty in acoustic pressure and noise impact at observers dominated by blade–vortex interaction noise can reach up to 25% and 3.50 dB, respectively. A set of generalized uncertainty maps is derived, for use as modeling guidelines for aeroacoustic analysis in the absence of the robust evidence necessary for calibration of semiempirical vortex core models.

Numerical Analysis of Rotor/Propeller Aerodynamic Interactions on a High-Speed Compound Helicopter

In the context of the development of high-speed compound helicopters, the main rotor may not be an efficient propulsive device at high speeds and adding a propulsive propeller is a means to enable higher speed. On such configuration, at low speed, the propellers are in strong interactions with the main rotor wake which affects their performance and aircraft maneuverability. The present work numerically investigates the aerodynamics of the rotor/propeller interaction on rotorcraft similar to the Racer from Airbus Helicopters. Through the comparison of two different levels of fidelity for three different advance ratios, it is shown that at high advance ratio, a simple free wake model is suitable to give most of the interaction effects, while in hover, a full computational fluid dynamics (CFD) unsteady computation is necessary to better capture all the unsteadiness of the interaction. The detailed analysis of CFD results also outlines the different behaviors of the propeller when it is fully inside the rotor wake or out of it, and therefore the need for a precise control of the rotorcraft in the transition between hover to fast forward flight.

CFD-CSD method for coupled rotor-fuselage vibration analysis with free wake-panel coupled model

An efficient comprehensive vibration analysis method for a helicopter rotor–fuselage coupling system is presented. This loose computational fluid dynamics (CFD)/computational structural dynamics (CSD) coupling approach with a free wake–panel coupled model is used for system vibration response analysis. The CSD model of the helicopter consists of a fuselage model using a refined three dimensional (3 D) finite element model (FEM) and a rotor model consisting of nonlinear moderate deflection beam elements with 15 degrees of freedom. The unsteady Euler CFD solver is used for the flow field analysis of the entire vehicle. The induced inflow of the quasi-steady aerodynamic force is calculated with the free wake–panel coupled model, which is used to simulate rotor–fuselage aerodynamic interference. Using a full-scale helicopter as an example, the vibration responses of the typical fuselage position in hovering and level flights are analysed. When compared with the literature results and flight test data, the predictions of the proposed method are closer to the test data than those of the traditional method in hovering and low forward ratio flights, and the difference between the two methods is minimal in high forward ratio flight.

MODELLING THE HELICOPTER ROTOR AERODYNAMICS AT FORWARD FLIGHT WITH FREE WAKE MODEL AND URANS METHOD

The presented work is dedicated to the numerical study of the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter rotor. Two approaches to modeling of the rotor are applied: the free wake model developed by the Authors with using steady airfoil characteristics and the Unsteady RANS method based on the Ansys Fluent software. The modes of hovering and horizontal flight in the range of advancing ratio μ = (0-0.45) are considered. The shapes of the rotor wake, the distributions of the normal force coefficient and the fields of inductive velocities for all considered flight modes are calculated. For a particular case with μ = 0.25 there is a comparison with experimental data. The time needed for calculation of the applied methods is estimated. Accuracy of the used methods in the framework of the solved task is analysed with taking into account used models assumptions. It is shown that in the range of μ = (0-0.25) the free wake model provides a fast and reliable calculation of the aerodynamic characteristics of the helicopter rotor. For values of μ > 0.35 it is necessary to take into account the unsteady characteristics of the airfoil.

Hydro-Servo-Aero-Elastic Analysis of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

A fully coupled hydro-servo-aero-elastic simulator for the analysis of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) is presented. All physical aspects are addressed, and the corresponding equations are concurrently solved within the same computational framework, taking into account the wind and wave excitations, the aerodynamic response of the rotor, the hydrodynamic response of the floater, the structural dynamics of the turbine-floater-mooring lines assembly and finally the control system of the wind turbine. The components of the complex multi-physics system of a FOWT interact with each other in an implicitly coupled manner leading to a holistic type of modeling. Different modeling options, of varying fidelity and computational cost, are made available with respect to rotor aerodynamics, hydrodynamic loading of the floater and mooring system dynamics that allow for timely routine certification simulations, but also for computationally intense simulations of less conventional operating states. Structural dynamics is based on nonlinear multibody analysis that allows reproducing the large rigid body motions undergone by the FOWT, as well as large deflections and rotations of the highly flexible blades. The paper includes the description of the main physical models, of the interaction and solution strategy and representative results. Verification is carried out by comparing with other state-of-art tools that participated in the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation (OC4) IEA Annex, while the advanced simulation capabilities are demonstrated in the case of half-wake interaction of floating wind turbines by employing the free-wake aerodynamic method.