Extensive computational fluid dynamic analysis and wind tunnel testing form part of the design of any new helicopter. Nevertheless, the so-called 'tail shake' phenomenon is often encountered during early flight testing. A method is presented to characterize this wake related phenomenon in a tractable fashion. It is substantiated how a crew-correlated tail shake indicator was extracted from a subjective environment and developed into an objective characterization. Amongst other rotorcraft, it was applied to the NH90 helicopter, used in this paper to demonstrate the method. The differences between two early aerodynamic configurations tested are quantified and wake behavior highlighted, using the so-called 'gamma-alpha plot'. It is concluded that the proposed method allows objective comparison and gives insight into wake behavior, supporting engineering decisions during development flight testing.
Tail Shake Vibration: Objective Comparison of Aerodynamic Configurations in a Subjective Environment
1999
26 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1999
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