• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.35-43
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• 2003

In this study, a rotor planform shape with high performance and low noise has been designed and its aerodynamic and aeroacoustic characteristics are analysed. First of all, rotor blade planform with low noise characteristics, has been designed based on the paddle-shape blade by applying vane-tip concept. Finally, noise characteristics of the designed next-generation rotor blade have been investigated and the results are compared with those of BERP blade.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2009

The objective of this research is to design blade planform to reduce high speed impulsive(HSI) noise from a non-lifting helicopter rotor using CFD method and optimization techniques. As for the aero-acoustic analysis, CFD technique for aerodynamic analysis and Kirchhoff's method for the acoustic analysis were used. As for the optimization method, Kriging-based genetic algorithm(GA) model as a high-fidelity optimization method was chosen. Design variables and constraints are determined for arbitrary blade planform. The result shows that the optimized blade planform with high swept-back and taper ratio can reduce HSI noise by suppressing generation of the strong shock wave on blade surface and propagation of the noise to the farfield flow region.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.36-43
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• 2017

Blade design optimization of QTP-UAV prop-rotor was conducted using ModelCenter(R). Performance efficiency of the blade in hover and forward flight were adopted as the multi-objective function. Required power and pitch link force applied to constraint in each flight mode and limited lower than the value of the baseline blade. Design variables of root chord length of the blade, taper ratio, twist slope, twist angle at 0.5R of the blade, anhedral angle, parabolic coefficient of a tip shape and location of airfoil were used to generate the blade planform. CAMRAD-II, the comprehensive analysis program of rotorcraft, was used for performance analysis of prop-rotor blade in design process. Performance of the optimized blade improved 1.6% of figure of merit in hover and 13.6% of propulsive efficiency in forward flight. Pitch link force also reduced approximately 30% less than that of the baseline blade.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.1060-1066
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• 2010

This paper focuses on the application of the proposed aerodynamic optimization techniques to design the blade planform of helicopter rotors. The design problems are formulated to maximize the hover figure of merit and the equivalent lift-to-drag ratio for high forward speed by optimally distributing airfoils, twist, and chord along the blade span. The numerical characters are investigated by solving various design problems. The advantages and limitations with the present design approach and the present modeling features for performance prediction are discussed. The recommendations for the required model refinements to get more accurate optimal configurations are addressed as future research areas.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.1049-1059
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• 2010

This paper treats the aerodynamic optimization of the blade planform for helicopters. The blade shapes, which should be determined during the threedimensional aerodynamic configuration design step, are defined and are parameterized using the B$\acute{e}$zier curves. This research focuses on the design approaches generally adopted by industries and or research institutes using their own experiences and know-hows for the parameterization and for the definition of design constraints. The hover figure of merit and the equivalent lift-to-drag ratio for the forward flight are used to define the objective function. The resultant nonlinear programming (NLP) problem is solved using the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method. The applications show the present method can design the important planform shapes such as the airfoil distribution, twist and chord variations in the efficient manner.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.638-642
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• 2008

Computational methods based on the solution of the flow model are widely used for the analysis of lowspeed, inviscid, attached-flow problems. Most of such methods are based on the implementation of the internal Dirichlet boundary condition. In this paper, the time-domain panel method uses the piecewise constant source and doublet singularities. The present method utilizes the time-stepping loop to simulate the unsteady motion of the rotary wing blade. The wake geometry is calculated as part of the solution with no special treatment. To validate the results of aerodynamic characteristics, the typical blade was chosen such as, Caradonna-Tung blade and present results were compared with the experimental data and the other numerical results in the single blade condition and two blade condition. This isolated rotor blade model consisted of a two bladed rotor with untwisted, rectangular planform blade. Computed flow-field solutions were presented for various section of the blade in the hovering mode.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.173-184
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• 2013

A multi-level design optimization framework for aerodynamic design of rotary wing such as propeller and helicopter rotor blades is presented in this study. Strategy of the proposed framework is to enhance aerodynamic performance by sequentially applying the planform and sectional design optimization. In the first level of a planform design, we used a genetic algorithm and blade element momentum theory (BEMT) based on two-dimensional aerodynamic database to find optimal planform variables. After an initial planform design, local flow conditions of blade sections are analyzed using high-fidelity CFD methods. During the next level, a sectional design optimization is conducted using two dimensional Navier-Stokes analysis and a gradient based optimization algorithm. When optimal airfoil shape is determined at the several spanwise locations, a planform design is performed again. Through this iterative design process, not only an optimal flow condition but also an optimal shape of an EAV propeller blade is obtained. To validate the optimized propeller-blade design, it is tested in wind-tunnel facility with different flow conditions. An efficiency, which is slightly less than the expected improvement of 7% predicted by our proposed design framework but is still satisfactory to enhance the aerodynamic performance of EAV system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.9-17
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• 2005

In the early stage of helicopter design, an optimal configuration is usually determined after a numerous parametric study about the aerodynamic performance due to geometric variation. In order to improve the aerodynamic performance of a shrouded tail rotor, optimization of the tip clearance gap between blade and shroud, the blade planform shape, and the arrangement of blade spacing is required. In the present study, the aerodynamic performance characteristics of a shrouded tail rotor due to geometric variation was investigated by using an inviscid compressible unstructured mesh flow solver for rotary wings.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.29-36
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• 2014

In the present study, an aerodynamic design optimization of UAV rotor blades was conducted using a genetic algorithm(GA) coupled with computational fluid dynamics(CFD). To reduce computational cost in making databases, a function approximation was applied using artificial neural networks(ANN) based on a radial basis function network. Three dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS) solver was used to solve the flow around UAV rotor blades. Design directions were specified to maximize thrust coefficient maintaining torque coefficient and minimize torque coefficient maintaining thrust coefficient. Design variables such as twist angle, thickness and chord length were adopted to perform a planform optimization. As a result of an optimization regarding to maximizing thrust coefficient, thrust coefficient was increased about 4.5% than base configuration. In case of an optimization minimizing torque coefficient, torque coefficient was decreased about 7.4% comparing with base configuration.