Numerical Simulation of Aerodynamic Interaction Effects in Coaxial Compound Helicopters

The so-called coaxial compound helicopter features two rigid coaxial rotors,and possesses high-speed capabilities.Nevertheless,the small separation of the coaxial rotors causes severe aerodynamic interactions,which require careful analysis.In the present work,the aerodynamic interaction between the various helicopter components is investigated by means of a numerical method considering both hover and forward flight conditions.While a sliding mesh method is used to deal with the rotating coaxial rotors,the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS)equations are solved for the flow field.The Caradonna&Tung(CT)rotor and Harrington-2 coaxial rotor are considered to validate the numerical method.The results show that the aerodynamic interaction of the two rigid coaxial rotors significantly influences hover’s induced velocity and pressure distribution.In addition,the average thrust of an isolated coaxial rotor is smaller than that of the corresponding isolated single rotor.Compared with the isolated coaxial rotor,the existence of the fuselage results in an increment in the thrust of the rotors.Furthermore,these interactions between the components of the considered coaxial compound helicopter decay with an increase in the advance ratio.

Disturbance Observer-Based Safe Tracking Control for Unmanned Helicopters With Partial State Constraints and Disturbances

In this paper, a disturbance observer-based safe tracking control scheme is proposed for a medium-scale unmanned helicopter with rotor flapping dynamics in the presence of partial state constraints and unknown external disturbances. A safety protection algorithm is proposed to keep the constrained states within the given safe-set. A second-order disturbance observer technique is utilized to estimate the external disturbances. It is shown that the desired tracking performance of the controlled unmanned helicopter can be achieved with the application of the backstepping approach, dynamic surface control technique, and Lyapunov method. Finally, the availability of the proposed control scheme has been shown by simulation results.

Dynamics Analysis of Close-coupling Multiple Helicopters System

The particularity and practicality of harmony operations of close-coupling multiple helicopters indicate that the researches on it are urgent and necessary, Using the model that describes two hovering helicopters carrying one heavy load, an inertia coordinate system and body coordinate systems of each sub-system are established. A nonlinear force model is established too. The equilibrium computation results can be regarded as the reference control inputs of the flight control system under hovering or low-speed flight condition. After the establishment of a translation kinematics model and a posture kinematics model, a coupling dynamics model of the multiple helicopter system is set up. The results can also be regarded as the base to analyze stabilization and design a controller for a close-coupling multiple helicopters harmony operation system.

Simulation Study on the Feasibility of Gun-Launched Missile Against Attack Helicopters

The feasibility of providing the tank a limited anti helicopter ability with gun launched missile is studied. A type of simulation model of gun launched missile against attack helicopters is established. The simulation and the parameter optimization of missile control system under various circumstances are done. The gun launched missile can directly hit the helicopters in the typical tracks, all the missdistances are less than 1?m and the maximum overload is less than available overload. Gun launched missile is a feasible choice for tanks against attack helicopters.

NONLINEAR INVERSE SIMULATION FOR THE MANEUVERING FLIGHT OF COAXIAL ROTOR HELICOPTERS

The maneuvering flight governing equations for coaxial rotor helicopters are established. By introducing induced velocity interference factor analysis, the coaxial rotor aerodynamic interference can be taken into account. With the combination of coaxial rotor helicopter control features and nonlinear inverse solution technique, the governing equations for maneuvering flight can be solved so as to determine helicopter control input, control force and moment, and helicopter body attitudes which are needed for performing the defined maneuver. Finally, as an example of this methods engineering application, the calculated results with level turn, lateral jink maneuvers are presented and simply analyzed.

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF GUST RESPONSEALLEVIATION CONTROL SYSTEM FOR HELICOPTERS

Gust response alleviation is very important for helicopters which have strong coupling and vibration. Gust disturbance not only influences the ride quality and the precision of the weapon delivery, but also affects to the structural fatigue load and the strength. The method of an optimal control law to suppress the gust disturbance for helicopters is presented. The optimization requires the minimization of the vertical overload at the pilot′s seat, the attitude variation and the control energy consumption under the gust disturbance. Based on the original control system, the new system can be easily realized by adding a vertical speed feedback passage. In order to develop the real-time operational flight control system, the optimized control law is written in C language. The hybrid simulations prove that the performance of gust response alleviation and the efficiency of digitalization are satisfactory.

A NEW AEROMECHANICAL STABILITY ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY FOR COUPLED ROTOR/FUSELAGE SYSTEM OF HELICOPTERS

The aeromechanical st ability for the coupled rotor/fuselage system of helicopters in forward flight i s investigated. The periodic time-varying equations of motion are developed thr ough building a new 24DOF coupled rigid/elastic blended element based on the fle xible multibody system theory in this paper. It accounts for the effects of prec one, sweep, and the moderately large elastic deflections on the blade and elasti city of shaft and fuselage of the helicopter. The dynamic coupling between the r igid motion of blades about the flap, lag and pitch hinges of articulated rotor and moderately large elastic deflections are included. There is no restriction o n the rotation amplitudes of flap, lag and pitch in the formulation. The stabili ty of periodic solution is studied using the Floquet theory. The transition matr ix is calculated by the Newmark integration method. The aeromechanical stability of a new helicopter is studied. The results show that it is stable in the given forward flight. But the instability arises with the decrease of the bending and torsion stiffness of the shaft.

Simulation and Analysis of Crashworthiness of Fuel Tank for Helicopters

Crashworthiness requirement of fuel tanks is one of the important requirements in helicopter designs. The relations among the protection frame, textile layer and rubber layer of the fuel tank are introduced. Two appropriate FE models are established, one is for an uncovered helicopter fuel tank without protection frame, and the other is for fuel tank with protection frame. The dynamic responses of the two types of fuel tanks impinging on the ground with velocities of 17.3 m/s are numerically simulated for the purpose of analyzing energy-absorbing capabilities of the textile layer and protection frame. The feasibility of the current crashworthiness design of the fuel tank is examined though comparing the dynamic response behaviors of the two fuel tanks.

RESEARCH ON SLALOM COURSE OF ARMED HELICOPTERS

In this paper, the eigenstructure assignment theory and methods are applied to design the lateral directional channel of armed helicopter SCAS (Stability and Control Augmentation System). The lateral directional channel decoupling is reached through eigenvector shaping. And then the trajectory programming for lateral maneuver types is presented. On these bases, the ‘pilot helicopter’ closed loop system is formed, and the simulation results under different maneuvers, such as snaking, of the helicopter with lateral directional SCAS are satisfactory. The results of design are valuable for practical engineering.

Identification of landing sites for rescue helicopters in mountains with use of Geographic Information Systems

Helicopters are often used in mountain rescue both for rescuers moving in the area of accidents and for evacuating victims, but in steep or forested terrain finding a landing place can be problematic. The main aim of this research is to use Digital Elevation Model(DEM) and cartographic database analysis to select locations that can be used as landing site for the rescue helicopters. Methods were based on GIS analysis;both raster and vector data were used for identifying touchdown points for rescue helicopters. Based on DEM data, locations with a low slope gradient were identified;topographic vector data were used for identifying unforested sites. Then buffer zones for buildings and power lines were excluded, and it was checked whether the areas had any topographic features that prevented helicopter landings. The findings were verified on an orthophotomap. In result, GIS analyses have selected 1232 polygons that fulfilled initial criteria. Their verification on orthophotomap has shown that only 55% of them could be potentially used as landing site. Landing sites can be found mainly on side ridges of mountain ranges and in valley beds, when those on ridges are most important in this research. The greatest difficulties and methodological challenges are posed by: identification of sites having a shape which prevents landing, the obsolescence of data due to environment dynamics, the presence of features that are not shown on maps but prevent helicopter landings. A map of landing sites is a very useful tool to conduct rescue operations, but each use of a given landing site requires both in-field and numerical verification. The analysis demonstrated that GIS toolsare useful in pre-planning of rescue missions, and also showed that such data must be kept up-to-date and in-field verification is needed continuously, the more so as it plays an important role in ensuring the safety of rescuers and victims.

Robust Near-Hovering Flight Controller for Model-Scale Helicopters Via Parametric Approach

This paper aims to provide a parametric design for robust flight controller of the model-scale helicopter. The main contributions lie in two aspects. Firstly,under near-hovering condition,a procedure is presented for simplification of the highly nonlinear and under-actuated model of the model-scale helicopter. This nonlinear system is linearized around the trim values of the chosen flight mode,followed by decomposing this high-order linear model into three lower-order subsystems according to the coupling properties among channels.After decomposition,the three subsystems are obtained which include the coupling subsystem between the roll( pitch) motion and the lateral( longitudinal) motion,the subsystem of the yaw motion and the subsystem of the vertical motion. Secondly,by using eigenstructure assignment,the problem of flight controller design can be converted into solving two optimization problems and the linear robust controllers of these subsystems are designed through solving these optimization problems. Besides, this paper contrasts and analyzed the performances of the LQR controller and the parametric controller. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and the robustness against the parametric perturbations of the parametric controller.

Fatigue Life Analysis of the Hoist Bracket for Rescue Helicopters

Helicopter rescue has become an important way of life and property relief in modern society.The structure and parameters of the helicopter hoist bracket influence the convenience,safety and reliability of the rescue operation for the lifeguard and hoistman.Based on fatigue analysis theory and ANSYS workbench software,the fatigue life analysis of the hoist bracket is carried out.First,the structure of the hoist bracket is modeled according to the body standard of the hoistman and lifeguard.Then an approach is presented to obtain the S-N curve of the hoist bracket by modifying the S-N curve of the bracket material based on Goodman curve while considering the influences of the shape,size,surface state,loading conditions and the average stress.Further,based on the ANSYS workbench analysis,the life and safety nephogram of the bracket under the fluctuating cyclic load can be obtained.Finally,the designed bracket is analyzed with the proposed method.The cycles number of the bracket is greater than 107 under the extreme conditions of the pulsating cyclic load,which may be considered as the unlimited life and meets the requirement of the fatigue strength.

Rotosonde: Acquiring Vertical Wind Profile of a Tropical Cyclone with Small Unmanned Helicopters

Spinsonde is a chute-free vertical retardation technique specifically developed for fixed-wing unmanned aircraft to acquire accurate measurement of vertical wind speed profile for meteorological applications. Key advantages of spinsonde over the expendable chute-operated dropsondes are the ability to acquire multi-cycle measurement, efficient use of payload capacity and cost-effectiveness. This work proposes the concept of “rotosonde”, which is the spinsonde equivalent for unmanned helicopters. Computer simulations are carried out to evaluate the performance of the rotosonde and results indicate that the measured speed generally correlates with the wind speed to within ±3 km·h﹣1 even for intensities in excess of 180 km·h﹣1. The profound implication of this work is that unmanned helicopters can now be considered for important field of studies such as cyclogenesis given their reliability to operate in gusty wind conditions in remote oceans, particularly during docking and launching from carriers.

A multi-objective optimization problem research for amphibious operational mission of shipboard helicopters

Airborne landing with shipboard helicopters gradually replaces surface landing to dominate joint amphibious operations.A problem with shipboard helicopter mission planning is conducted in the context of amphibious operations.First,the typical missions of shipborne helicopters in amphibious operations are analyzed.An Amphibious Operational Mission Planning Model for Shipboard Helicopters(AOMPMSH)is established,with the objectives of minimizing the completion time of the amphibious campaign and minimizing troop and helicopter losses,taking the available operational resources and the order of the mission sub-phases into account.Then,a simulationbased amphibious operations effectiveness assessment model is constructed to calculate the optimization objectives of AOMPMSH by simulating the campaign development with an amphibious objective area situation transfer model and simulating the engagement process with a modified Lanchester model.A reference point based multi-objective optimization algorithm is designed to solve the proposed AOMPMSH.The population iteration mechanism employs an initial population generation method and a local search method to solve the problem of vast definition space.The population ranking selection mechanism employs a population distribution based reference point generation method to solve the problem of population irregular distribution.Finally,a simulation case with the background of a battalion-scaled amphibious campaign is presented.The calculation results verify the rationality of the proposed model and the superiority of the designed algorithm and have some reference value for the operational applications of shipboard helicopters in amphibious operations.

Load distribution strategy for multi-lift system with helicopters based on power consumption and robust adaptive game control

It is of great significance to reasonably distribute the slung load to each helicopter while considering difference in power consumption,relative position and interaction comprehensively.Therefore,the load distribution strategy based on power consumption and robust adaptive game control is proposed in this paper.The study is on a"2-lead"multi-lift system of four tandem heli-copters carrying a load cooperatively.First,based on the hierarchical control,the load distribution problem is divided into two parts:the calculation of expected cable force and the calculation of the anti-disturbance cable force.Then,aimed at minimizing the maximum equivalent power of heli-copter,an optimization problem is set up to calculate the expected cable force.Specially,the agent power model is trained by BP neural network,the safe distance constraint between helicopters is set to 2.5 rotor diameters to reduce aerodynamic interference,and the helicopters with different perfor-mance can be considered by introducing the equivalent power factor into the objective function.Next,considering the difference and interaction between helicopters,the robust adaptive differen-tial game control is proposed to calculate the anti-disturbance cable force.Particularly,to solve the coupled Hamiltonian equations,an adaptive solving method for value function is proposed,and its stability is proved in the sense of Lyapunov.The simulation results indicate that the proposed load distribution method based on power consumption is applicable to the entire flight trajectory even there are differences between helicopters.The game control can consider interaction between heli-copters,can deal with different objective functions,and has strong robustness and small steady-state error.Based on the entire strategy,the cable force can be reasonably allocated so as to resist disturbance and improve the flight performance of the whole system.

Chattering-free sliding mode control with unidirectional auxiliary surfaces for miniature helicopters

Purpose-This article proposes a chattering-free sliding mode control scheme with unidirectional auxiliary surfaces(UAS-SMC)for small miniature autonomous helicopters(Trex 250).Design/methodology/approach-The proposed UAS-SMC scheme consists of a nested sequence of rotor dynamics,angular rate,Euler angle,velocity and position loops.Findings-It is demonstrated that the UAS-SMC strategy can eliminate the chattering phenomenon exhibiting in the convenient SMC method and achieve a better approaching speed.Originality/value-The proposed control strategy is implemented on the helicopter and flight tests clearly demonstrate that a much better performance could be achieved,compared with convenient SMC schemes.

Adaptive predictor-based control for a helicopter system with input delays:Design and experiments

In this paper,we consider a 2-degrees-of-freedom(DOF)helicopter system subject to long input delays and uncertain system parameters.To address the challenges including unknown system parameters and input delays in control design,we develop an adaptive predictor-feedback control law to achieve trajectory tracking.Stability of the closed-loop system is further established,where the tracking errors are shown to converge towards zero.Through simulation and experiments on the helicopter system,we illustrate that tracking of a desired trajectory is achieved with the proposed control scheme.

Heading control strategy assessment for coaxial compound helicopters

The coaxial compound helicopter has two possible strategies for heading control: collective differential and rudder deflection. A flight dynamics model is developed to assess the effect of different heading control strategies. This includes the trim characteristics, steady flight performance,controllability, and manoeuvrability. The trim study demonstrates that heading control strategies are less influential on trim results, and the steady flight performance is also not significantly affected by the heading control strategy adopted. The controllability analysis shows although heading bandwidth and phase delay results at various speeds with different heading control strategies are all satisfied, the control derivative of the collective differential decreases as speed increases, and its heading aggressive agility is degraded into Level 3 in high-speed flight. In addition, using collective differential would lead to severe heading-rolling coupling as forward speed increases. On the contrary, the control derivative and aggressive agility of the rudder deflection is improved with forward speed, and there is no evidence of heading-rolling coupling. Finally, the transient turn MissionTask-Element(MTE) is utilized to investigate the heading manoeuvre characteristics in different heading control strategies, which indicates that the collective differential would add the amplitude of control input and the power consumption during this MTE.

Dynamic response analysis under atmospheric disturbances for helicopters based on elastic blades

A flight dynamics model based on elastic blades for helicopters is developed.Modal shape analysis is used to describe the rotating elastic blades for the purpose of reducing the elastic degrees of freedom for blades.The analytical result is employed to predict the rotor forces and moments.The equilibrium equation of the flight dynamics model is then constructed for the elastic motion for blades and the rigid motion for other parts.The nonlinear equation is further simplified,and the gradient descent algorithm is adopted to implement the trim simulation.The trim analysis shows that the effect of blade elasticity on the accuracy of rotor forces and moments is apparent at high speed,and the proposed method presents good accuracy for trim performance.The timedomain response is realized by a combination of the Newmark method and the adaptive RungeKutta method.The helicopter control responses of collective pitch show that the response accuracy of the model at a yaw-and-pitch attitude is improved.Finally,the influence of blade elasticity on the helicopter dynamic response in low-altitude wind shear is investigated.An increase in blade elasticity reduces the oscillation amplitude of the yaw angle and the vertical speed by more than 70%.Compared with a rigid blade,an elastic blade reduces the vibration frequency of the angular velocity and results in a fast return of the helicopter to its stable flight.

Trajectory optimization of aerial slung load release for piloted helicopters

This study aims to provide the pilot with optimal control time histories for stabilization of a helicopter after releasing the slung load in aerial delivery missions. A model with 21 degrees of freedom(21-DOF) has been developed and validated for a helicopter slung load system. The control history is generated with detailed procedure based on trajectory optimization. Effects of the objective function formulation on the results are discussed and rules are obtained to assist in the objective function determination. We conclude that the pilot should first decrease and then increase the collective control and adjust the longitudinal control to stabilize the helicopter after the in-hover slung load release. The obtained control history is reasonable and helpful for safety and efficiency improvement. Effects of path constraints and the Flight Control System(FCS) are studied. More stringent path constraints will lead to longer time spent and more controls. Stronger stiffness and weaker damping from the FCS will cause milder control histories but sharper on-axis state histories.