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NASA NTRS1988

Zero/zero rotorcraft certification issues. Volume 2: Plenary session presentations

This report analyzes the Zero/Zero Rotorcraft Certification Issues from the perspectives of manufacturers, operators, researchers and the FAA. The basic premise behind this analysis is that zero/zero, or at least extremely low visibility, rotorcraft operations are feasible today from both a technological and an operational standpoint. The questions and issues that need to be resolved are: What certification requirements do we need to ensure safety. Can we develop procedures which capitalize on the performance and maneuvering capabilities unique to rotorcraft. Will extremely low visibility operations be economically feasible. This is Volume 2 of three. It presents the operator perspectives (system needs), applicable technology and zero/zero concepts developed in the first 12 months of research of this project.

Adams, Richard J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Zero/zero rotorcraft certification issues. Volume 3: Working group results

This report analyzes the Zero/Zero Rotorcraft Certification Issues from the perspectives of manufacturers, operators, researchers and the FAA. The basic premise behind this analysis is that zero/zero, or at least extremely low visibility, rotorcraft operations are feasible today from both a technological and an operational standpoint. The questions and issues that need to be resolved are: What certification requirements do we need to ensure safety. Can we develop procedures which capitalize on the performance and maneuvering capabilities unique to rotorcraft. Will extremely low visibility operations be economically feasible. This is Volume 3 of three. It provides the issue-by-issue deliberations of the experts involved in the Working Groups assigned to deal with them in the Issues Forum.

Adams, Richard J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Aeromechanics and man-machine integration technology opportunities for rotorcraft of the 1990s and beyond

Programs related to rotorcraft aeromechanics and man-machine integration are discussed which will support advanced army rotorcraft design. In aeromechanics, recent advances in computational fluid dynamics will be used to characterize the complex unsteady flowfields of rotorcraft, and a second-generation comprehensive helicopter analysis system will be used along with models of aerodynamics, engines, and control systems to study the structural dynamics of rotor/body configurations. The man-machine integration program includes the development of advanced cockpit design technology and the evaluation of cockpit and mission equipment concepts in a real-time full-combat environment.

Kerr, Andrew W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Advanced Rotorcraft Transmission (ART) program summary

The Advanced Rotorcraft Transmission (ART) Program was initiated to advance the state of the art for rotorcraft transmissions. The goal of the ART Program was to develop and demonstrate the technologies needed to reduce transmission weight by 25 pct. and reduce noise by 10 dB while obtaining a 5000 hr 'mean time between failure'. The research done under the ART Program is summarized. A split path design was selected as best able to meet the program goals. Key part technologies needed for this design were identified, studied, and developed. Two of these technologies are discussed in detail: the load sharing of split path designs including the use of a compliant elastomeric torque splitter and the application of a high ratio, low pitch line velocity gear mesh. Development of an angular contact spherical roller bearing, transmission error analysis, and fretting fatigue testing are discussed. The technologies for a light weight, quiet, and reliable rotorcraft transmission were demonstrated.

Krantz, T. L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Advanced Rotorcraft Transmission (ART) Program summary

The Advanced Rotorcraft Transmission (ART) Program was initiated to advance the state of the art for rotorcraft transmissions. The goal of the ART Program was to develop and demonstrate the technologies needed to reduce transmission weight by 25 pct and reduce noise by 10 dB while obtaining a 5000 hr 'mean time between failure'. The research done under the ART Program is summarized. A split path design was selected as best able to meet the program goals. Key part technologies needed for this design were identified, studied, and developed. Two of these technologies are discussed in detail: the load sharing of split path designs including the use of a compliant elastomeric torque splitter and the application of a high ratio, low pitch line velocity gear mesh. Development of an angular contact spherical roller bearing, transmission error analysis, and fretting fatigue testing are discussed. The technologies for a light weight, quiet, and reliable rotorcraft transmission were demonstrated.

Krantz, T. L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Control design of a UH-60 rotorcraft via CLTR and direct optimization

High-performance rotorcraft controller design is characterized by the need to compensate for both the longitudinal and lateral dynamics simultaneously. Rather than leaving these modes largely decoupled, one often needs for performance consideration to incorporate direct mode decoupling as a part of the controller design, especially when the system model includes high-frequency dynamics from the rotor and lag states. In addition to the usual design considerations of stability augmentation, a high-performance rotorcraft such as the UH-60 would also require a good command bandwidth and decoupling in the heave, yaw, pitch and roll command responses. In this paper, the method of closed-loop transfer recovery (CLTR) and direct optimization are applied to the control design of a UH-60 rotorcraft.

Vansteenwyk, Brett↗

NASA NTRS1992

Analysis of image-based navigation system for rotorcraft low-altitude flight

Some of the issues in the location of objects using a sequence of images from a passive sensor are examined. Image-object differential equations for a rotorcraft executing an arbitrary maneuver are developed. Assuming an onboard inertial navigation system for rotorcraft, state estimation, this study considers how object location is affected by the choice of Kalman filter estimation technique, the rotorcraft, and the object. Simulation results are presented.

Sridhar, Banavar↗

NASA NTRS1993

A teleoperated unmanned rotorcraft flight test technique

NASA and the U.S. Army are jointly developing a teleoperated unmanned rotorcraft research platform at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center. This effort is intended to provide the rotorcraft research community an intermediate step between wind tunnel rotorcraft studies and full scale flight testing. The research vehicle is scaled such that it can be operated in the NASA Langley 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel or be flown freely at an outside test range. This paper briefly describes the system's requirements and the techniques used to marry the various technologies present in the system to meet these requirements. The paper also discusses the status of the development effort.

Walker, Gregory W.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Robust crossfeed design for hovering rotorcraft

Control law design for rotorcraft fly-by-wire systems normally attempts to decouple angular responses using fixed-gain crossfeeds. This approach can lead to poor decoupling over the frequency range of pilot inputs and increase the load on the feedback loops. In order to improve the decoupling performance, dynamic crossfeeds may be adopted. Moreover, because of the large changes that occur in rotorcraft dynamics due to small changes about the nominal design condition, especially for near-hovering flight, the crossfeed design must be 'robust.' A new low-order matching method is presented here to design robost crossfeed compensators for multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) systems. The technique identifies degrees-of-freedom that can be decoupled using crossfeeds, given an anticipated set of parameter variations for the range of flight conditions of concern. Cross-coupling is then reduced for degrees-of-freedom that can use crossfeed compensation by minimizing off-axis response magnitude average and variance. Results are presented for the analysis of pitch, roll, yaw, and heave coupling of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in near-hovering flight. Robust crossfeeds are designed that show significant improvement in decoupling performance and robustness over nominal, single design point, compensators. The design method and results are presented in an easily-used graphical format that lends significant physical insight to the design procedure. This plant pre-compensation technique is an appropriate preliminary step to the design of robust feedback control laws for rotorcraft.

Catapang, David R.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Controls design with crossfeeds for hovering rotorcraft using quantitative feedback theory

A multi-input, multi-output controls design with dynamic crossfeed pre-compensation is presented for rotorcraft in near-hovering flight using Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT). The resulting closed-loop control system bandwidth allows the rotorcraft to be considered for use as an inflight simulator. The use of dynamic, robust crossfeeds prior to the QFT design reduces the magnitude of required feedback gain and results in performance that meets most handling qualities specifications relative to the decoupling of off-axis responses. Handling qualities are Level 1 for both low-gain tasks and high-gain tasks in the roll, pitch, and yaw axes except for the 10 deg/sec moderate-amplitude yaw command where the rotorcraft exhibits Level 2 handling qualities in the yaw axis caused by phase lag. The combined effect of the QFT feedback design following the implementation of low-order, dynamic crossfeed compensators successfully decouples ten of twelve off-axis channels. For the other two channels it was not possible to find a single, low-order crossfeed that was effective. This is an area to be investigated in future research.

Tischler, Mark B.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Robust Crossfeed Design for Hovering Rotorcraft

Control law design for rotorcraft fly-by-wire systems normally attempts to decouple angular responses using fixed-gain crossfeeds. This approach can lead to poor decoupling over the frequency range of pilot inputs and increase the load on the feedback loops. In order to improve the decoupling performance, dynamic crossfeeds may be adopted. Moreover, because of the large changes that occur in rotorcraft dynamics due to small changes about the nominal design condition, especially for near-hovering flight, the crossfeed design must be 'robust'. A new low-order matching method is presented here to design robust crossfeed compensators for multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) systems. The technique identifies degrees-of-freedom that can be decoupled using crossfeeds, given an anticipated set of parameter variations for the range of flight conditions of concern. Cross-coupling is then reduced for degrees-of-freedom that can use crossfeed compensation by minimizing off-axis response magnitude average and variance. Results are presented for the analysis of pitch, roll, yaw and heave coupling of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in near-hovering flight. Robust crossfeeds are designed that show significant improvement in decoupling performance and robustness over nominal, single design point, compensators. The design method and results are presented in an easily used graphical format that lends significant physical insight to the design procedure. This plant pre-compensation technique is an appropriate preliminary step to the design of robust feedback control laws for rotorcraft.

Catapang, David R.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Contributions of the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel to Rotorcraft Technology and Development

A historical account of the contributions of the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) to rotorcraft technology and development tunnel's inception in 1960 is presented. The paper begins with a summary of the major characteristics of the TDT and a description of the unique capability offered by the TDT for testing aeroelastic models by virtue of its heavy gas test medium. This is followed by some remarks on the role played by scale models in the design and development of rotorcraft vehicles and review of the basic scaling relationships important for designing and building dynamic aeroelastic models of rotorcraft vehicles for testing in the TDT. Chronological accounts of helicopter and tiltrotor research conducted in the TDT are then described in separate sections. The discussions include a description of the various models employed, the specific objectives of the tests, and illustrative results.

Yeager, William T., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Future Directions in Rotorcraft Technology at Ames Research Center

Members of the NASA and Army rotorcraft research community at Ames Research Center have developed a vision for 'Vertical Flight 2025'. This paper describes the development of that vision and the steps being taken to implement it. In an effort to realize the vision, consistent with both NASA and Army Aviation strategic plans, two specific technology development projects have been identified: (1) one focused on a personal transportation system capable of vertical flight (the 'Roto-Mobile') and (2) the other on small autonomous rotorcraft (which is inclusive of vehicles which range in grams of gross weight for 'MicroRotorcraft' to thousands of kilograms for rotorcraft uninhabited aerial vehicles). The paper provides a status report on these projects as well as a summary of other revolutionary research thrusts being planned and executed at Ames Research Center.

Aiken, Edwin W.↗

NASA NTRS2001

A Historical Overview of Aeroelasticity Branch and Transonic Dynamics Tunnel Contributions to Rotorcraft Technology and Development

A historical account of the contributions of the Aeroelasticity Branch (AB) and the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) to rotorcraft technology and development since the tunnel's inception in 1960 is presented. The paper begins with a summary of the major characteristics of the TDT and a description of the unique capability offered by the TDT for testing aeroelastic models by virtue of its heavy gas test medium. This is followed by some remarks on the role played by scale models in the design and development of rotorcraft vehicles and a review of the basic scaling relationships important for designing and building dynamic aeroelastic models of rotorcraft vehicles for testing in the TDT. Chronological accounts of helicopter and tiltrotor research conducted in AB/TDT are then described in separate sections. Both experimental and analytical studies are reported and include a description of the various physical and mathematical models employed, the specific objectives of the investigations, and illustrative experimental and analytical results.

Yeager, William T., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2002

A Tool for Low Noise Procedures Design and Community Noise Impact Assessment: The Rotorcraft Noise Model (RNM)

To improve aircraft noise impact modeling capabilities and to provide a tool to aid in the development of low noise terminal area operations for rotorcraft and tiltrotors, the Rotorcraft Noise Model (RNM) was developed by the NASA Langley Research Center and Wyle Laboratories. RNM is a simulation program that predicts how sound will propagate through the atmosphere and accumulate at receiver locations located on flat ground or varying terrain, for single and multiple vehicle flight operations. At the core of RNM are the vehicle noise sources, input as sound hemispheres. As the vehicle "flies" along its prescribed flight trajectory, the source sound propagation is simulated and accumulated at the receiver locations (single points of interest or multiple grid points) in a systematic time-based manner. These sound signals at the receiver locations may then be analyzed to obtain single event footprints, integrated noise contours, time histories, or numerous other features. RNM may also be used to generate spectral time history data over a ground mesh for the creation of single event sound animation videos. Acoustic properties of the noise source(s) are defined in terms of sound hemispheres that may be obtained from theoretical predictions, wind tunnel experimental results, flight test measurements, or a combination of the three. The sound hemispheres may contain broadband data (source levels as a function of one-third octave band) and pure-tone data (in the form of specific frequency sound pressure levels and phase). A PC executable version of RNM is publicly available and has been adopted by a number of organizations for Environmental Impact Assessment studies of rotorcraft noise. This paper provides a review of the required input data, the theoretical framework of RNM's propagation model and the output results. Code validation results are provided from a NATO helicopter noise flight test as well as a tiltrotor flight test program that used the RNM as a tool to aid in the development of low noise approach profiles.

Conner, David A.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Airworthiness Qualification Criteria for Rotorcraft with External Sling Loads

This report presents the results of a study to develop airworthiness requirements for rotorcraft with external sling loads. The report starts with a review of the various phenomena that limit external sling load operations. Specifically discussed are the rotorcraft-load aeroservoelastic stability, load-on handling qualities, effects of automatic flight control system failure, load suspension system failure, and load stability at speed. Based on past experience and treatment of these phenomena, criteria are proposed to form a package for airworthiness qualification. The desired end objective is a set of operational flight envelopes for the rotorcraft with intended loads that can be provided to the user to guide operations in the field. The specific criteria proposed are parts of ADS-33E-PRF; MIL-F-9490D, and MIL-STD-913A all applied in the context of external sling loads. The study was performed for the Directorate of Engineering, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), as part of the contract monitored by the Aerothermodynamics Directorate, U.S. Army AMCOM.

Key, David L.↗

NASA NTRS2004

A History of Full-Scale Aircraft and Rotorcraft Crash Testing and Simulation at NASA Langley Research Center

This paper summarizes 2-1/2 decades of full-scale aircraft and rotorcraft crash testing performed at the Impact Dynamics Research Facility (IDRF) located at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The IDRF is a 240-ft.-high steel gantry that was built originally as a lunar landing simulator facility in the early 1960's. It was converted into a full-scale crash test facility for light aircraft and rotorcraft in the early 1970 s. Since the first full-scale crash test was preformed in February 1974, the IDRF has been used to conduct: 41 full-scale crash tests of General Aviation (GA) aircraft including landmark studies to establish baseline crash performance data for metallic and composite GA aircraft; 11 full-scale crash tests of helicopters including crash qualification tests of the Bell and Sikorsky Advanced Composite Airframe Program (ACAP) prototypes; 48 Wire Strike Protection System (WSPS) qualification tests of Army helicopters; 3 vertical drop tests of Boeing 707 transport aircraft fuselage sections; and, 60+ crash tests of the F-111 crew escape module. For some of these tests, nonlinear transient dynamic codes were utilized to simulate the impact response of the airframe. These simulations were performed to evaluate the capabilities of the analytical tools, as well as to validate the models through test-analysis correlation. In September 2003, NASA Langley closed the IDRF facility and plans are underway to demolish it in 2007. Consequently, it is important to document the contributions made to improve the crashworthiness of light aircraft and rotorcraft achieved through full-scale crash testing and simulation at the IDRF.

Jackson, Karen E.↗

NASA NTRS2006

Current Research Activities in Drive System Technology in Support of the NASA Rotorcraft Program

Drive system technology is a key area for improving rotorcraft performance, noise/vibration reduction, and reducing operational and manufacturing costs. An overview of current research areas that support the NASA Rotorcraft Program will be provided. Work in drive system technology is mainly focused within three research areas: advanced components, thermal behavior/emergency lubrication system operation, and diagnostics/prognostics (also known as Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS)). Current research activities in each of these activities will be presented. Also, an overview of the conceptual drive system requirements and possible arrangements for the Heavy Lift Rotorcraft program will be reviewed.

Handschuh, Robert F.↗