Aerodynamics and Control of Next Generation Electric Rotorcraft

Abstract

Innovative design of helicopters promises great benefits
over conventional aircraft but there are a number of
technical challenges. Hyper Q Aerospace brought a project to
the 2020 Mathematics-in-Industry Study Group to consider a
helicopter design with a counter-rotating, coaxial, double
rotor. Specific considerations were the vibration and
harmonic properties of the rotor blades, the noise from the
aircraft and the aerodynamic characteristics.
Euler--Bernoulli beam theory and classical airfoil theory
were implemented to consider the vibration and aerodynamic
features of the aircraft and the rotor system. The
fundamental lengthwise and lateral harmonics of the blades
were obtained and compared with typical rotational forcing
frequencies. The modification to the lift generated by the
counter-rotating blades and noise mitigation strategies were
discussed. Improved design strategies were presented.