Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:55:45.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wind-tunnel tests of a tilt-rotor aircraft

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2016

G. Gibertini ,
F. Auteri ,
G. Campanardi ,
C. Macchi ,
A. Zanotti  and
A. Stabellini
F. Auteri
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Politecnico di Milano, Campus Bovisa, Milano, Italy
G. Campanardi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Politecnico di Milano, Campus Bovisa, Milano, Italy
C. Macchi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Politecnico di Milano, Campus Bovisa, Milano, Italy
A. Zanotti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Politecnico di Milano, Campus Bovisa, Milano, Italy
A. Stabellini
Affiliation:
AgustaWestland, Helicopter System Design, Italy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A wide aerodynamic test campaign has been carried out on the tiltrotor aircraft ERICA at the Large Wind Tunnel of Politecnico di Milano by means of a modular 1:8 scale model in order to produce a dataset necessary to better understand the aerodynamic behaviour of the aircraft and to state its definitive design.

The target of the tests was the measurement of the aerodynamic forces and moments in several different configurations and different attitudes. The test program included some conditions at very high incidence and sideslip angles that typically belong to the helicopter-mode flight envelope and measurements of forces on the tail and on the tilting wings.

A large amount of data has been collected that will be very useful to refine the aircraft design. In general the aircraft aerodynamics do not present any critical problems, but further optimisation is still possible. From the viewpoint of drag in the cruise configuration, the sponsons of the landing gear seem to be worth some further design refinement since they are responsible for a 20% drag increase with respect to the pure fuselage configuration. On the contrary, the wing fairing has proved to work well when the aircraft longitudinal axis is aligned with the wind, providing just a slight drag increase.

Two other interesting aspects are the quite nonlinear behaviour of the side force for the intermediate sideslip angles as well as the noticeable hysteresis in the moment coefficient at very high incidence angles.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 115 , Issue 1167 , May 2011 , pp. 315 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2011 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Gazdag, D. and Altonin, L. Potential use of tiltrotor aircraft in Canadian aviation, NASA Technical Memorandum 102245, 1990.Google Scholar
2. Mcveigh, M.A, Grauer, W.K. and Paisley, D.J. Rotor/Airframe Interactions on Tiltrotor Aircraft, J American Helicopter Society, 1990, 35, pp 43–51.Google Scholar
3. Young, L.A., Lillie, D., Mccluer, M., G.K., Yamauchi and Derby, M.R. Insights into airframe aerodynamics and rotor-on-wing interactions from a 0·25-Scale tiltrotor wind-tunnel model, AHS International Aerodynamics, Acoustics and Test and Evaluation Specialists Conference, San Francisco, CA, USA, 23-25 January 2002.Google Scholar
4. Barbour, D.J. The BA609 tiltrotor aircraft: A new way to fly in the 21st century. Proceedings of Aircraft Symposium, 38th, pp 805–816, 2000.Google Scholar
5. Alli, P., Nannoni, F. and Cicale, M. Erica: the european tilt-rotor design and critical technology Projects, AIAA 2003-2515, AIAA International Air and Space Symposium and Exposition: The Next 100 Years, Dayton, Ohio, USA, 14-17 July 2003.Google Scholar
6. Renaud, J., Huber, H. and Venn, G. The EUROFAR program; A European overview on advanced VTOL civil transportation system, 17th European Rotorcraft Forum, Berlin, Germany, 23-27 September 1991.Google Scholar
7. Benoit, B., Bassez, P. and Gardarein, P. EUROFAR rotor aerodynamic test, 18th European Rotorcraft Forum, Avignon (France), 15-18 September 1992.Google Scholar
8. Bottasso, C., Trainelli, L., Abdel-Nour, P. And Labo, G. Tiltrotor analysis and design using finite element multibody procedures, 28th European Rotorcraft Forum Paper, Bristol, UK. 17-20 September 2002.Google Scholar
9. Visingardi, A., Decours, J., Khier, W. and Voutsinas, S. Code-to-code comparisons for the blind-test activity of the TILTAERO project, 31stEuropean Rotorcraft Forum, Florence, Italy, 13-15 September 2005.Google Scholar
10. Bianchi, E., Russo, A., Kiessling, F., Ferrer, R., Dieterich, O., Frosoni, M., Bakker, R., Riziotis, V., Petot, D. and Lanz, M. Numerical whirl-Flutter investigation of the European tiltrotor concept: current status and future prospects, 30th European Rotorcraft Forum, Marseilles, France, 14-16 September 2004.Google Scholar
11. De Ponte, S., Gasparini, L., Gibertini, G. and Zasso, A. Optimisation of the Circuit Components for a Compact Civil-Aeronautical WindTunnel, The Royal Aeronautical Society, Wind Tunnels and WindTunnel Test Techniques, 1997, pp 1–8.Google Scholar
12. Campanardi, G., Gibertini, G., Pozzi, M.A. and Quici, M. La Camera di Prova Aeronautica della Galleria del Vento del Politecnico di Milano, Proceeding of XVII Congresso AIDAA, Rome, Italy, 15-19 September 2003 (in Italian).Google Scholar
13. Vsaero, , Nonlinear Aerodynamic Software, User Manual, Analytical Methods, Inc.Google Scholar
14. Braslow, A.L., Hicks, R.M. and Harris, R.V. Use of Grit-Type Boundary-Layer- Transition Trips on Wind-Tunnel Models, NASA Tecnical Note, NASA TN D-3579, September 1966.Google Scholar
15. Cox, R.A. Low speed, flat plate, carborundurum grit trip strip, AIAA 1980-868, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, International Meeting and Technical Display on Global Technology 2000, Baltimore, Md, USA, 6-8 May 1980.Google Scholar
16. Barlow, J.B., Rae, W.H. and Pope, A. Low-Speed Wind-Tunnel Testing, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.Google Scholar
17. Roskam, J. Airplane design. Part VI: Preliminary calculation of aerodynamic, Thrust and Power Characteristics, DARCorporation, 2000.Google Scholar
18. Maskell, E.C. A theory of blockage effects on bluff bodies and stalled wings in a closed wind tunnel, ARC R & M 3400, 1965.Google Scholar