Computational and experimental study of a helicopter torsion rotor

Abstract

A computational and experimental study of a helicopter torsion rotor is presented. The motion and deformation of the blade of a three-blade main helicopter rotor model were experimentally investi-gated. Measurements were carried out using a non-contact videogrammetry method using only one digital camera. The experimental data were approximated by Fourier series. The flow around the rotor under experiment was simulated based on the unsteady vortex theory. In the calculations, rotor flapping relative to the horizontal hinge was considered. The difference in the flapping characteristics in case of hinged and torsion rotors is shown. The results of numerical simulation of the flow around such a rotor as part of a coaxial system with different initial azimuths of the upper rotor blade relative to that of the lower rotor blade are presented. The effect of the initial mutual arrangement of the blades on the change in the rotor thrust coefficient and the thrust pulsation of a coaxial helicopter rotor is shown.