Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System
This paper focuses on the development and demonstration of a novel blade morphing system within a whirl tower facility. The scope is to investigate the behavior of the proposed architecture under representative loads, demonstrating its capability to alter the blade original shape in operation under...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Actuators |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/6/141 |
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| author | Salvatore Ameduri Monica Ciminello Antonio Concilio Ignazio Dimino Bernardino Galasso Mariano Guida Marco Fabio Miceli Johannes Riemenschneider Steffen Kalow Jannis Luebker Benjamin King Sutton Woods |
| author_facet | Salvatore Ameduri Monica Ciminello Antonio Concilio Ignazio Dimino Bernardino Galasso Mariano Guida Marco Fabio Miceli Johannes Riemenschneider Steffen Kalow Jannis Luebker Benjamin King Sutton Woods |
| author_sort | Salvatore Ameduri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper focuses on the development and demonstration of a novel blade morphing system within a whirl tower facility. The scope is to investigate the behavior of the proposed architecture under representative loads, demonstrating its capability to alter the blade original shape in operation under centrifugal, aerodynamic, and internal forces. The morphing concept was developed inside the European project “Shape Adaptive Blades for Rotorcraft Efficiency”, SABRE, and consists of a shape memory alloy system able to change the original twist law and, in this way, enhance rotor performance at certain specific regimes, such as hover and vertical flight. These phases, indeed, are generally penalized with respect to other more extended flight regimes (cruise). The work starts with an overview of the research in the field of morphing, with specific reference to the researches envisaging rotary wing demonstrations. Then, an overview of the morphing twist concept is provided, with particular attention paid to those features particularly suited for the whirl tower representative test environment. The laboratory characterization and commissioning operations are illustrated. Then, the task of the installation of the prototype on the whirl tower facility is described together with the testing modality adopted. Finally, the results of the test campaign are illustrated and critically discussed, providing the reader with insights and possible future steps to be taken in further research. The impact on the morphing capability of the following different parameters was investigated: the number of the prototype segments switched on, the speed and thus the centrifugal actions, and the angles of attack. The stiffening effect due to centrifugal actions was quantified through the measurement of the actual twist and the internal deformation. The link between speed, angle of attack at root, and twist and flap angles was also tracked, building a database useful for the comprehension of the phenomenon, and for the assessment of numerical predictive models. The achieved results highlighted the capability of the system to produce a twist angle matching the target of 8° per blade radius; this figure is related to a potential power saving of 10% in hover and vertical flight and an improvement of about 1% on the over-all efficiency of the rotorcraft. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:43:40Z |
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| id | doaj.art-ebedc1f4ce0a47e4a8cd731edf6c7c9d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0825 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:43:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Actuators |
| spelling | doaj.art-ebedc1f4ce0a47e4a8cd731edf6c7c9d2023-11-23T15:03:47ZengMDPI AGActuators2076-08252022-05-0111614110.3390/act11060141Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist SystemSalvatore Ameduri0Monica Ciminello1Antonio Concilio2Ignazio Dimino3Bernardino Galasso4Mariano Guida5Marco Fabio Miceli6Johannes Riemenschneider7Steffen Kalow8Jannis Luebker9Benjamin King Sutton Woods10Department of Adaptive Structures, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, ItalyDepartment of Adaptive Structures, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, ItalyDepartment of Adaptive Structures, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, ItalyDepartment of Adaptive Structures, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, ItalyDepartment of Adaptive Structures, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, ItalyDepartment of Simulations and Virtual Reality Applications, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, ItalyALI—Aerospace Laboratory for Innovative Components—S.C.A.R.L., 80146 Naples, ItalyInstitute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Lilienthalplatz 7, 38108 Braunschweig, GermanyInstitute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Lilienthalplatz 7, 38108 Braunschweig, GermanyInstitute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Lilienthalplatz 7, 38108 Braunschweig, GermanyDepartment of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, Queen’s Building University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, UKThis paper focuses on the development and demonstration of a novel blade morphing system within a whirl tower facility. The scope is to investigate the behavior of the proposed architecture under representative loads, demonstrating its capability to alter the blade original shape in operation under centrifugal, aerodynamic, and internal forces. The morphing concept was developed inside the European project “Shape Adaptive Blades for Rotorcraft Efficiency”, SABRE, and consists of a shape memory alloy system able to change the original twist law and, in this way, enhance rotor performance at certain specific regimes, such as hover and vertical flight. These phases, indeed, are generally penalized with respect to other more extended flight regimes (cruise). The work starts with an overview of the research in the field of morphing, with specific reference to the researches envisaging rotary wing demonstrations. Then, an overview of the morphing twist concept is provided, with particular attention paid to those features particularly suited for the whirl tower representative test environment. The laboratory characterization and commissioning operations are illustrated. Then, the task of the installation of the prototype on the whirl tower facility is described together with the testing modality adopted. Finally, the results of the test campaign are illustrated and critically discussed, providing the reader with insights and possible future steps to be taken in further research. The impact on the morphing capability of the following different parameters was investigated: the number of the prototype segments switched on, the speed and thus the centrifugal actions, and the angles of attack. The stiffening effect due to centrifugal actions was quantified through the measurement of the actual twist and the internal deformation. The link between speed, angle of attack at root, and twist and flap angles was also tracked, building a database useful for the comprehension of the phenomenon, and for the assessment of numerical predictive models. The achieved results highlighted the capability of the system to produce a twist angle matching the target of 8° per blade radius; this figure is related to a potential power saving of 10% in hover and vertical flight and an improvement of about 1% on the over-all efficiency of the rotorcraft.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/6/141SMA blade twistmorphingadaptive rotorSABRE |
| spellingShingle | Salvatore Ameduri Monica Ciminello Antonio Concilio Ignazio Dimino Bernardino Galasso Mariano Guida Marco Fabio Miceli Johannes Riemenschneider Steffen Kalow Jannis Luebker Benjamin King Sutton Woods Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System Actuators SMA blade twist morphing adaptive rotor SABRE |
| title | Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System |
| title_full | Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System |
| title_fullStr | Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System |
| title_full_unstemmed | Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System |
| title_short | Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System |
| title_sort | whirl tower demonstration of an sma blade twist system |
| topic | SMA blade twist morphing adaptive rotor SABRE |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0825/11/6/141 |
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