Aerodynamics of Rotor

Flow near hovering helicopter

Cont
By conservation of mass

By conservation of momentum between infinity and 0

Since the velocity at 0 is zero the equation reduces to

Cont
By principle of conservation of energy between infinity and 0

Since velocity at 0 is zero the equation reduces to

From these equations we get

Power to Hover
From the previous relation we can write

Velocity at the disk is given as

Ideal power to hover is given by the relation

This equation shows that the power to hover decreases as the area of rotor increases.

Trend for Hovering

Lower the vi lesser is the power required to hover.

Thrust and Power Cofficients

Non dimensional cofficients are defined for thrust and power

Non ideal effects

The power cofficient is expressed as given below. It includes effects such as Non uniform flow, tip loss, finite number of blades etc.

Power cofficient due to drag on blades

where

Cont

Figure of Merit
Figure of Merit is defined as

Cont

Performance of Coaxial Rotors

Investigations started as early as 1950 Figure of Merit was defined as for single rotor

where

Cont

Fig. 1 Comparison of rotor performance

ABC Rotor System

Sikorsky Aircraft

Fig. 2 Comparison of lift distribution Total power was less than 3% to 9% less than equivalent single rotor Rotor spacing was found to have little effect on performance

Cont

Fig. 3 Schematic of advancing blade concept

Comparison with other helicopters

Fig. 4 Comparison of helicopters

High Hovering Efficiency

It is due to the mutual interference effects of the rotors. An effective increase in the area is caused by the extra clean air being drawn in by the lower rotor.

Fig. 5 Increase of effective area

Individual Performance of Rotors

Research was carried in Japan in 1970s and 1980s to study the individual performance upper and lower rotor for hovering.

Fig. 6 Individual performance of upper and lower rotor

Cont
Overall performance was found as the algebraic sum of these two. Optimum pitch combination was determined as the combination of pitch angles For which CT/CQ was maximum for a given thrust.

Forward Flight
Experiments on forward flight were done in 1970s. It was found that coaxial rotors were better than single rotors of same solidity. It is due to the fact that the moving air causes the upper rotor wake to swept back which exposes more of the lower rotor to clean air.

Fig. 7 Performance comparison in forward flight and hover

Approach in theoretical modeling

Initially equivalent solidity single rotor approach was utilized but it gave 5% more power for a given thrust as compared to experimental results. Forward flight predictions by this theory produced very different results.

For better modeling the contraction of wake of the upper rotor and the drawing in of Fresh air by the lower rotor was taken into account. Interference models include not only the effect of upper rotor on the lower one but also The effect of lower rotor on upper one. Computational approaches are used for better prediction.