• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.93-114
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• 2011

The current status of Canadian research on rotor-based actively controlled technologies for helicopters is reviewed in this paper. First, worldwide research in this field is overviewed to put Canadian research into context. Then, the unique hybrid control concept of Carleton University is described, along with its key element, the "stiffness control" concept. Next, the smart hybrid active rotor control system (SHARCS) projected's history and organization is presented, which aims to demonstrate the hybrid control concept in a wind tunnel test campaign. To support the activities of SHARCS, unique computational tools, novel experimental facilities and new know-how had to be developed in Canada, among them the state-of-the-art Carleton Whirl Tower facility or the ability to design and manufacture aeroelastically scaled helicopter rotors for wind tunnel testing. In the second half of the paper, details are provided on the current status of development on the three subsystems of SHARCS, i.e. that of the actively controlled tip, the actively controlled flap and the unique stiffness-control device, the active pitch link.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.152-160
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• 2012

Model tests and CFD were carried out to find out the cause of cavitation surge in hydraulic power plants. In experiments the cavitation surge was observed at flow rate, both with and without a surge tank placed just upstream of the inlet volute. The surge frequency at smaller flow rate was much smaller than the swirl mode frequency caused by the whirl of vortex rope. An unsteady CFD was carried out with two boundary conditions: (1) the flow rate is fixed to be constant at the volute inlet, (2) the total pressure is kept constant at the volute inlet, corresponding to the experiments without/with the surge tank. The surge was observed with both boundary conditions at both higher and lower flow rates. Discussions as to the cause of the surge are made based on additional tests with an orifice at the diffuser exit, and with the diffuser replaced with a straight pipe.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1162-1169
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• 2010

The dynamic balancing of a rotor system is needed to alleviate the imbalances originating from various sources encountered during blade manufacturing processes and environmental factors. This work aims at developing a comprehensive analysis system which consists of cumulative module of test D/B and selection of optimal control parameters. This system can be used for the dynamic balancing of helicopter rotors based on tracking results from the whirl tower test. For simplicity of the analysis, a linear relation is assumed between the balancing input parameters and the blade track responses leading to influence coefficients and thereby the rotor system identification is made. In addition, the balancing parameters of the individual blades are sought using the genetic algorithm and the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated in comparison with the test results.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 2017

In this paper, the effect of oil conditions in rotor dynamic behaviors of a FFRB (Fully-Floating Ring Bearing) is investigated. Through the characteristic of a FFRB has two films, it has several advantages such as less friction loss and better stability over a wide speed range. However, it is difficult to supply a oil to the inner film. Thus, turbocharger makers have been paid significant attention to the lubrication of a FFRB because of its importance. This work focuses on the influence of oil inlet pressure and temperature. The methodologies of computational simulation and experimental test were used to estimate the rotor dynamic behaviors. In experimental test, the single-scroll turbocharger for the 1.4L diesel engine was used. The results show that the oil inlet pressure and temperature will place considerable influence on the rotor response. Oil conditions affect RSR (Ring Speed Ratio) which is cause of sub-synchronous vibrations, which also cause of oil whirling and whip even a critical speed. At higher speed range, the phenomenon of self-excited vibrations which is cause of instability of fluid whirl is investigated through the orbit shapes that consist of small orbit and large amplitude orbit. It is shown that some performance of a FFRB can be controlled by the conditions of oil supply. Finally, it was revealed that the oil induced operating conditions will strongly affect the turbocharger rotor dynamics behaviors.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.691-698
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• 2014

This paper describes the manufacturing processes for a flexbeam and torque tube made of composite materials, along with the procedures for testing their basic properties. A flexbeam and torque tube can be considered to be key structural components of a bearingless rotor hub system. A hinge offset effect can be realized by a large elastic deformation and twist of the flexbeam, and the blade pitch control forces are transferred by the rotation of the torque tube. The basic property tests included bending and twist tests to determine the flap stiffness, lag stiffness, and torsion stiffness of the flexbeam, torque tube, and blade, and these tests were performed prior to starting the whirl tower test. In addition, the estimated results were compared with experimental data, and the calculations were found to be a good match for the analysis results and had a similar tendency. Through these results, we could confirm that a flexbeam and torque tube made of composite materials satisfied the structural stiffness requirements.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.645-653
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• 2013

Seoul National University flap(SNUF) blade is a small-scale rotor blade incorporating a small trailing-edge flap control surface driven by piezoelectric actuators at higher harmonics for vibration attenuation. Initially, the blade was designed using two-dimensional cross-section analysis and geometrically exact one-dimensional beam analysis, and its material configuration was finalized. A flap-deflection angle of ${\pm}4^{\circ}$ was established as the criterion for enhanced vibration reduction based on an earlier simulation. The flap-linkage mechanism was designed and static bench tests were conducted for verifying the performance of the flap-actuation mechanism. Different versions of test beds were developed and tested with the designed flap and the selected APA 200M piezoelectric actuators. Through significant improvements, a maximum deflection of ${\pm}3.7^{\circ}$ was achieved. High-frequency experiments were conducted for evaluating the performance, and the transfer function of the test bed was determined experimentally. With the static tests almost complete, the rotor power required for testing the blade in a whirl tower (centrifugal environment) was calculated, and further preparations are underway.