Leonardo Helicopters Active Rotor programmes to improve helicopter comfort performance

摘要

This Paper provides the first comprehensive description of full scale demonstrator activities currently under way in Leonardo Helicopters. Two distinct technology strands are outlined, an active Gurney flap intended to address performance enhancement and active trailing edge flaps intended to address vibration control. Passive blade design constraints and the ability of active technology to overcome these constraints are discussed. The derivation of the two demonstrator rotor design's configuration and construction is reviewed. The required control algorithm development is outlined. A system hardware outline is provided together with a brief overview of actuation system options. The development of design loads for both rotor types is discussed, touching on challenging nature of minimizing conservatism in this new area. The construction of the two rotor types is reviewed, with explanations of the modifications employed to the baseline AW 139 rotor blade. The Paper concludes with an outline of the flight trials content and preliminary estimates of system effectiveness in the target parameters of vibration control and performance.