• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2006.05a
• /
• pp.300-303
• /
• 2006

The rotor blade of a helicopter is the key structural units and provides three components such as vertical lifting force, horizontal propulsive force and control force. With advancements in aerospace technology, composite materials have been widely used in lightweight structures. In addition, composites show great potential on the design of rotor blades due to the advantages of strength, durability and weight of the materials. In the operational condition of a helicopter, it is required the vibration characteristics of the rotating blades for avoiding resonance and analysis of efficient performance prediction et al. In this study, the CAMRAD-II is used for analyzing the vibration characteristics of rotating composite blades. The effects of rotating speed and collective angles are investigated. Also, the numerical results are compared with experimental data.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.46 no.7
• /
• pp.542-550
• /
• 2018

This paper presents design of a bearingless main rotor of SNUF (Seoul National University Flap) blade equipped with active trailing-edge flap to reduce the hub vibratory loads during helicopter forward flight. For that purpose, sectional design of the flexbeam is carried out using the thin-walled composite material rotating beam vibration analysis program (CORBA77_MEMB) in EDISON. Using the multi-body dynamics analysis program, DYMORE, blade dynamic characteristics and those of the loads control are examined using the active trailing-edge flap in terms of the flexbeam sectional design.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.69-91
• /
• 2014

Numerical investigations are presented, which show that a back-flow flap can improve the dynamic stall characteristics of oscillating airfoils. The flap was able to weaken the stall vortex and therefore to reduce the peak in the pitching moment. This paper gives a brief insight into the method of function of a back-flow flap. Initial wind tunnel experiments were performed to define the structural requirements for a detailed experimental wind tunnel characterization. A structural integration concept and two different actuation mechanisms of a back-flow flap for a helicopter rotor blade are presented. First a piezoelectric actuation system was investigated, but the analytical model to estimate the performance showed that the displacement generated is too low to enable reliable operation. The seond actuation mechanism is based on magnetic forces to generate an impulse that initiates the opening of the flap. A concept based on two permanent magnets is further detailed and characterized, and this mechanism is shown to generate sufficient impulse for reliable operation in the wind tunnel.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.117-124
• /
• 2009

In the environment where various and complicated threat signals exist, RWR (Radar Warning Receiver), which can warn pilot of the existence of threats, has long been a necessary electronic warfare (EW) system to improve survivability of aircraft. The angle of arrival (AOA) information, the most reliable sorting parameter in the RWR, is measured by means of four-quadrant amplitude comparison direction finding (DF) technique. Each of four antennas (usually spiral antenna) of DF unit covers one of four quadrant zones, with 90 degrees apart with nearby antenna. According to the location of antenna installed in helicopter, RWR is subject to signal loss and interference by helicopter body and structures including tail bumper, rotor blade, and so on, causing a difficulty of detecting hostile emitters. In this paper, the performance degradation caused by signal interference by tail rotor blades has been estimated by measuring amplitude video signals into which RWR converts RF signals in case a part of antenna is screened by real tail rotor blade in anechoic chamber. The results show that corruption of pulse amplitude (PA) is main cause of DF error. We have proposed two algorithms for resolving the interference by tail rotor blades as below: First, expand the AOA group range for pulse grouping at the first signal analysis phase. Second, merge each of pulse trains with the other, that signal parameter except PRI and AOA is similar, after the first signal analysis phase. The presented method makes it possible to use RWR by reducing interference caused by blade screening in case antenna is screened by tail rotor blades.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.340-346
• /
• 2022

In this study, an optimal structural design of composite helicopter blades is performed using the genetic algorithm-based optimizer PSGA (Particle Swarm assisted Genetic Algorithm). The blade sections consist of the skin, spar, form, and balancing weight. The sectional geometries are generated using the B-spline curves while an opensource code Gmsh is used to discretize each material domain which is then analyzed by a finite element sectional analysis program Ksec2d. The HART II blade formed based on either C- or D-spar configuration is exploited to verify the cross-sectional design framework. A numerical simulation shows that each spar model reduces the blade mass by 7.39% and 6.65%, respectively, as compared with the baseline HART II blade case, while the shear center locations being remain close (within 5% chord) to the quarter chord line for both cases. The effectiveness of the present optimal structural design framework is demonstrated, which can readily be applied for the structural design of composite helicopter blades.

• Composites Research
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.50-59
• /
• 2001

The predictions of residual strength evolution and fatigue life of full scale composite rotor blade for multipurpose helicopter were studied using a strength degradation model. Flight-by-flight load spectrum was developed on the basis of FELIX standard spectrum data. The laminated structural analysis was also performed to obtain corresponding local stress and/or strain spectra for each ply of laminate skin and glass roving spar structures around the blade root where fatigue damage was severely anticipated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
• /
• 2000.11a
• /
• pp.187-190
• /
• 2000

Cyclocopter is air vehicle to vertically take-off and land like a helicopter. This is an efficient and quiet means of being able to direct thrust compared to a helicopter. The rotor consists of several blades rotating about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of normal flight. The direction of blade span is parallel to rotating axis and both end roots are connected to the hub to resist centrifugal force and to transmit the power. The pitch of the individual blades to the tangent of the circle of the blade's path is varied cyclically to gain thrust. In the paper, the design and manufactures of cyclocopter rotor blades are presented. Stress at the roots of cyclocopter blades is great due to centrifugal and aerodynamic forces and aeroelastic instabilities appear. The blades consist of main spar, front spar, polyurethan foam, weight, and skin and spars and skin are made of glass/epoxy composite.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.24-34
• /
• 2007

Closed-loop active twist control of integral helicopter rotor blades is investigated in this paper for reducing hub vibration induced in forward flight. A four-bladed fully articulated integral twist-actuated rotor system has been designed and tested successfully in wind tunnel in open-loop actuation. The integral twist deformation of the blades is generated using active fiber composite actuators embedded in the composite blade construction. An analytical framework is developed to examine integrally twisted helicopter blades and their aeroelastic behavior during different flight conditions. This aeroelastic model stems from a three-dimensional electroelastic beam formulation with geometrical-exactness, and is coupled with finite-state dynamic inflow aerodynamics. A system identification methodology that assumes a linear periodic system is adopted to estimate the harmonic transfer function of the rotor system. A vibration minimizing controller is designed based on this result, which implements a classical disturbance rejection algorithm with some modifications. Using the established analytical framework, the closed-loop controller is numerically simulated and the hub vibratory load reduction capability is demonstrated.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2007.04a
• /
• pp.120-124
• /
• 2007

Helicopters and rotary-wing vehicles encounter a wide variety of complex aerodynamic phenomena and these phenomena present substantial challenges for computational fluid dynamics(CFD) models. This investigation presents the rotor aerodynamic analysis items for the helicopter development and variety aerodynamic analysis methods to provide the better solution to researchers and helicopter developers between aerodynamic problems and numerical aerodynamic analysis methods. The numerical methods to make an analysis of helicopter rotor are as below - CFD Modelling : actuator disk model, BET model, fully rotor model,... - Grid : sliding mesh, chimera mesh / structure mesh, unstructure mesh,... - etc. : panel method periodic boundary, quasi-steady simulation, incompressible,... The choice of CFD methodology and the numerical resolution for the overall problem have been driven mostly by available computer speed and memory at any point in time. The combination of the knowledge of aerodynamic analysis items, available computing power and choice of CFD methods now allows the solution of a number of important rotorcraft aerodynamics design problems.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.159-166
• /
• 2018

In this study, the internal structural design, dynamic characteristics and load analyses of the small scaled rotor blade required for LCH(Light Civil Helicopter) main rotor wind tunnel test were carried out. The test is performed to evaluate the aerodynamic performance and noise characteristics of the LCH main rotor system. Therefore, the Mach-scale technique was appled to design the small scaled blade to simulate the equivalent aerodynamic characteristics as the full scale rotor system. It is necessary to increase the rotor speed to maintain the same blade tip speed as the full scale blade. In addition, the blade weight, section stiffness, and natural frequency were scaled according to the Mach-type scaling factor(${\lambda}$). For the design of skin, spar, torsion box, which are the main components of the blade, carbon and glass fiber composite materials were adopted, and composite materials are prepreg types that can be supplied domestically. The KSec2D program was used to evaluate the section stiffness of the blade. Also, structural loads and dynamic characteristics of the Mach scale blade were investigated through the comprehensive rotorcraft analysis program CAMRADII.