A comprehensive analysis is developed to evaluate the rotor performance of plain trailing-edge flaps (TEF) as rotor primary control system. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of various rotor and TEF design variables on rotor performance. The rotor studied is a two-bladed teetering rotor of an ultralight helicopter. The analytical model includes a teetering rotor formulation and a coupled trim procedure for determining TEF inputs. Computational fluid dynamics generated airfoil tables are used to obtain the TEF aerodynamic loads. A correlation study for the basic conventional rotor with primary pitch feather controls was performed using calculations from another comprehensive analysis. The results show good agreement for blade natural frequencies, rotor collective and cyclic pitch controls, and shaft tilt angles. Calculations of required TEF deflections and rotor power are carried out at different advance ratios for the swashplateless configuration. The results show the swashplateless configuration achieves better performance than the conventional rotor in forward flight, because of the reduction of parasite drag resulting from the elimination of the swashplate mechanical system. The optimal selection of blade pitch index angle, flap location, length, and chord ratio is aimed at reducing TEF deflections and rotor power.
Performance of swashplateless helicopter rotor with trailing-edge flaps for primary flight control
Leistung eines taumelscheibenlosen Hubschrauberrotors mit Hinterkantenklappen zur primären Flugregelung
Journal of the American Helicopter Society ; 55 , 4 ; 042005/1-042005/9
2010
9 Seiten, 9 Bilder, 3 Tabellen, 21 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
Swashplateless Helicopter Rotor with Trailing-Edge Flaps
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