Small-scale aeroelastic rotor simulation, design and fabrication

Paul Pounds*, Robert Mahony

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    25 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Efficient, small-scale fixed-pitch rotor blades are essential for miniature rotorcraft. Extremely thin blade sections are required for highly efficient rotor performance that leads to acceptable mission endurance. Such rotor blades are difficult to manufacture from sufficiently rigid material to avoid significant torsional deformation in operating conditions. In practice, it is necessary to trade-off manufacturing simplicity and mechanical rigidity of a blade design against aerodynamic performance. This paper presents a design methodology for this problem, based on development of a simulator for steady-state rotor performance along with a search algorithm to find the ideal taper and twist geometry for a specified motor torque. The approach is demonstrated on the design of rotors for a small scale quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle under development at the Australian National University. Experimental thrust tests indicate good correspondence with theoretical predications.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2005 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, ACRA 2005
    Publication statusPublished - 2005
    Event2005 Australian Conference on Robotics and Automation, ACRA 2005 - Sydney, NSW, Australia
    Duration: 5 Dec 20057 Dec 2005

    Publication series

    NameProceedings of the 2005 Australasian Conference on Robotics and Automation, ACRA 2005

    Conference

    Conference2005 Australian Conference on Robotics and Automation, ACRA 2005
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    CitySydney, NSW
    Period5/12/057/12/05

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