This review paper describes developments in rotary wing aeroelasticity (RWA) that have taken place during the last decade. The most important milestones during this period have been the following: 1) the development of three new helicopters with bearingless main rotors, two in production (EC135, MD-900) and one (Commanche) on the verge of production, 2) modeling of nonlinear elastomeric lag dampers and their influence on aeromechanical and aeroelastic stability problems, especially the aeroelastic characteristic of bearingless rotors, 3) development of reliable techniques for modeling of composite main rotor blades with advanced geometry tips (swept-tip rotors), 4) development of effective active control methods for vibration reduction in rotorcraft, and in particular, the approach based on the actively controlled trailing-edge flap (ACF), 5) improved understanding of semi-empirical dynamic-stall models and their incorporation in rotary-wing aeroelastic stability and response analyses, and 6) development and validation of compehensive helicopter analysis codes, among which CAMRAD II is the most successful in correlating with experimental data. An area that is still critical for both RWA as well as for rotorcraft design is the development of coupling methods between finite element based structural dynamic models of blades and computational fluid mechanics for rotors, known as computational aeroelasticity. Much work has been done on rotorcraft vibration reduction using adaptive material-based actuation. However, the electromagnetically actuated flap could supplant the adaptive materials as possible approach for actuating the ACF. This would facilitate the development of full-scale rotors with dual trailing-edge flaps for active vibration reduction. Persistent research on the simulation of the dynamic stall by direct solution of the Navier-Stokes-equations has the potential for replacing semi-empirical two-dimensional dynamic stall models by three-dimensional models based on first principles.
Rotary-wing aeroelasticity: Current status and future trends
Aeroelastizität von Hubschrauberrotoren: Kenntnisstand und Entwicklungsrichtung
AIAA Journal ; 42 , 10 ; 1953-1972
2004
20 Seiten, 34 Bilder, 139 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
SURVEY PAPER - Rotary-Wing Aeroelasticity: Current Status and Future Trends
Online Contents | 2004
|Rotary wing structural dynamics and aeroelasticity
TIBKAT | 2006
|Recent developments in rotary-wing aeroelasticity
NTRS | 1976
|