Book 3 Module 13 ROTARY WING AERODYNAMICS & CONTROL Licence By Post se Licence By Post © Copyright B2 13.1(c) ISSUE 1 22Lap Addendum module 13 (autopilots) pending amendment action in response to student feedback after taking the CAA examinations. October 2002. Transient and Static Droop ~ helicopters In flight, when the pilot increases the collective pitch the increased angle of the blades causes increased drag and a reduction in rotor rpm - despite the increase in fuel flow and power (Transient Droop). After a small time lag automatic engine governing will tend to increase the rpm to stabilise the rotor rpm at a new value which will be higher than the transient droop figure but lower than the value before the collective was applied (Static Droop). The difference between the stabilised static droop figure and the transient droop figure is called Underswing.CONTENTS Helicopter configuration Principles of flight Blades Pitch angle Coning angle Main rotor control Swash plate system Spidet- system C Lift and thrust } Main rotor heads | Tail rotors | Tail rotor drift | Tail rotar roll / Tail rotdr control | | | NOTAR system Main rotot blades phase lag Main rotor blades pitch change | | Flapping / Dragging Hookes joint effect Coriolis effect Dissymetry of lift Ground effect Flying the helicopter Vortex ring state Limits to forward speed Berp blade Stabiliser Synch elevators Blade sailing Auto-rotation Control systems Automatic flight control Auto stab and auto pilotHELICOPTER CONFIGURATION Helicopters may be divided into two broad groups: (a) Those having a single main rotor. (b) Those having more than one main rotor. Single Main Rotor ‘This is the most common configuration. Since there is only one main rotor the fuselage will experience a torque reaction (with some exceptions explained later). QUESTION: What is meant by the term ‘torque reaction’? (5 mins) “It is similar to Newton's third law that states that every action has { an equal and opposite reaction. When something is turned \in one | | direction (the rotor blades), thé thing doing the tu: ing will'want to turn in the opposite difection. So the torque to tt the blaties causes a torque reaction on the/engine and airframe to tyy fo turn | them in the opposite directions 7 mn [ The conventional, fneans by which torque reaction is overcome js through the use of a small tail rotor mounted in the vertical plane at the end of the fuselage. Its ‘distance aft being suffi ficient to give it: JA ANSWi (a) Clearance from the main rotor downwash, and (b) Sufficient moment arm (d) so that it’s force (f) provides enough torque (fx d) to be able to counteract the torque of the main rotor head. The NOTAR (No Tail Rotor) system is an alternative method of producing the torque cancelling thrust. This uses a variable thruster nozzle facing sideways at the end of the fuselage/tailboom. Some helicopters have main rotor tip jets that reduce to need for a tail rotor. Mutli Main Rotor ‘These helicopters, having more than one main rotor, may have various configurations. The most common of these is the “contra-rotating tandem” layout. This consists of a fuselage with a main rotor head mounted horizontally at each end, and rotating in opposite directions.One advantage of this type of configuration is that the torque reaction of one rotor is cancelled by the other as they rotate in opposite directions - so no need for separate torque reaction systems. Another important advantage is that there is a larger permissible aircraft C of G range than there would be with a comparable single rotor configuration. Torqueless Single Rotor With this type of helicopter the main rotor is driven by jet reaction as a result of exhausting gases rearwards from each rotor blade tip. No torque reaction is produced and, therefore, there is no need for torque reaction systems. Directional control is achieved by the use of a “rudder” placed in the downwash of the main rotor. | \\ _ . 1 SINGLE MAIN ROTOR - WESTLAND Fig. 3 TANDEM ROTORS - BOEING -2-Fig. 4 CO-AXIAL CONTRA-ROTATING ROTORS - KAMOV Co-axial Contra-rotating Rotors This configuration consists of two contra-rotating rotors mounted one above the other. The torque reaction of one cancelling the opposing torque of the other. —— Directional control is achieved by|using differential pitch of one rotor compared to the other, thereby causing an unbalanced torque and the fuselage to turn. | = | - PRINGIPLES on uci The helicopter obtains it’s lift by tptating ant hain rotor blades which are aerofoils and prodyice lift (and drag) in exactly the same way as the wings on more conventional aircraft. With an increasé in the collective pitch the angle of all the blades (angle of attack) will increase and more lift will be produced. When the total lift exceeds the weight of the helicopter it will lift into the air. If the lift vector is kept vertical the helicopter will lift vertically. If the lift vector is tilted the helicopter will move sideways in the direction of the tilt. Blade Aerofoil Section Usually of symmetrical cross-section which offers two main advantages: (a) The centre of pressure does not move so much compared with other aerofoil sections with a change in angle of attack. (>) They tend to provide a more constant lift/drag ratio along the length of the blade.Twisted, Tapered Blades As the blade rotates so each part rotates at the same angular velocity — but the tip moves at a faster linear speed than the root, so it’s airspeed is considerably greater. Since lift produced is proportional to the square of speed (V2) it follows that the lift will increase along the length of the blade towards the tip. This state of affairs would give a lift distribution as shown below and would significantly increase the bending moment from root to tip. ‘The designer may overcome this problem by twisting the blades so the angle reduces from the root to the tip (called washout), or making the blades tapered (decreasing the chord length from root to tip), or a combination of both. | pt f | Fig. 5 BLADE WITH REDUCING CHORD LENGTH TOWARDS THE TIP & WASHOUT “S. UeTCURVE Wm |uer ‘CONSTANT PITCH | | NO TAPER BLADE | Lut CURVE WiTH wasHoUT | ANDIOR TAPER BLADE | Hus BLADE LJ Fig. 6 LIFT DISTRIBUTIONPitch Angle The pitch angle of the rotor blade is the angle between the chord line of the blade and the plane of rotation. Also called the Blade Angle. _— oo LINE PITCH ANGLE BLADE —_ — — _— PLANE OF ROTATION ROTOR HUB Fig. P| prrcsiaNGuE \] ‘The pitch angle is variable and controlted by the pilot through | the aving control system (collective and cyclic controls). > j | 1} | Plane of Rotation’ i Defined as the plane in which a body rotates, and for a heliéopter is the plane of rotation of the blade root ends. CENTRE OF LIFT CONING —__ ye CENTRIFUGAL ANGLE, Ones escernenireeeesese FORCE PLANE OF ROTATION Fig. 8 PLANE OF ROTATION Figure 8 shows the plane as coincident with the tip path plane. This would not be so in translational flight.Tip Path Plane The tip path plane of the rotor is the plane in which the tips of the rotor blades rotate. In flight, the tips of the blades cone upwards above the plane of rotation. It follows that the tip path plane and plane of rotation will be parallel but not co- planar in vertical flight. ig: 9 TIP PATH PLANE _ | Coning angle | } | TT | When Lift is produced the blades of the main rotor “cone up” forming a shallow f | af iss I | \ The precise position of each blade with respect to the plane of rotation is dependent upon the forces acting upon it,/These forces are: | | cone. —~ Lift. Weight. Drag. Centrifugal. Since the drag force does not influence the “coned” positioned of the blades, and the weight of each blade, as well as being small compared to lift and centrifugal force is also constant, it follows that lift and centrifugal force determine the actual angle the blades adopt. Coning angle = a = angle between blade and tip path plane. The blade is free to “flap” up or down within limits on it’s flapping hinge, and since centrifugal force tries to hold the blade in the plane of rotation, and the lift force tries to pull the blade up, the final position adopted by the blade is along the resultant of the lift and centrifugal forces. GConclusions As the blade lies along the resultant of the lift and centrifugal force, the angle alpha (a) is sometimes defined as the angle between the resultant of lift and centrifugal force and the tip path plane or plane of rotation. ‘The magnitude of the centrifugal force is dependent upon the mass of the blade and rotor rpm. In practice rpm is constant within defined limits as is the mass of the blade. Lift then becomes the main variable force governing the coning angle. Hence when hovering, an increase in all up weight leads to an increased coning angle and a decrease in all up weight will lead to a decreased coning angle. Hus [-—————_— Ty Ty Retor stationary blades droop. | WEIGHT | ET | | A | Hui = i T Noma blige mpm, tow pitch angle. | 5 1 LT weioht greater ane aca | stays on grdund, HUB Norma pm. inereased pth ange FH Lit greater than weight Ara rises, When tt equals weight areraft hovers. Fig. 10 BLADE POSITION Centrifugal Twisting Moment This is the tendency of the rotating blade to “fine off” or “throwing off pitch” due to the mass in front of and behind the axis about which the pitch changes occur. This loads the collective controls into fine pitch and, dependent on the helicopter system design, may be compensated for by centrifugal force using Pitch Moment Compensators. The pitch moment compensator “throws on” pitch, or the control system might be biased either hydraulically or with a spring bias unit.MAIN ROTOR CONTROLS Unlike most fixed wing aircraft the helicopter is unstable in flight, both in the hover and translational modes. The only exception being that it is directionally stable about the normal axis in forward flight — all other disturbances requiring corrective action by the pilot (or inputs into the control system from autopilots etc) through the flying controls. In general the pilot “flies the rotor”, the fuselage following the rotor. Helicopters have 3 primary flying controls in the cockpit, these are: (a) Collective pitch lever 2 in the drawing (b) Cyclic control column 1 in the drawing. (c) Tail rotor pitch control pedals 3 in the drawing. SIDE ViEW / muors star. / aie 1 =evcue comrmot cow it OLLECTIVE PCH LEVER Oe ST fat roron aren cowrmoL, roa i) 3 % Fig. 11 COCKPIT CONTROLS - GENERAL Main Rotor Control ‘This is effected through the use of collective and cyclic pitch changes of the rotor blades. Raising the collective pitch lever increases the pitch of all the blades by the same amount simultaneously, thereby increasing the overall lift of the rotor and vice-versa giving vertical control. Moving the cyclic control column changes the pitch of some of the blades.\ \ i Fig. 12 COCKPIT CONTROLS -PILOT’S VIEW | } i } | / BoP A . | ao TSN mina a? a TS | NG ‘OF ROTATION i ° | H eo f (EE y } j LoPA S— 6° PA COLLECTIVE PCH de (A) COLLECTIVE PITCH 8 deg CYCLIC PITCH 0 deg CYCLIC PITCH 4 deg Disc HORZONTAL bse TLTED CONTROL COLUMN CENTRAL CONTROL COLUMN TILTED Fig. 13 CYCLIC PITCH CHANGE Notes 1. The collective pitch produces a pitch change that is evenly distributed around the disc and causes all blades to change pitch, in the drawing above, to 8°.2. The cyclic pitch that occurs is distributed unevenly around the disc and, as shown in the drawing, produces a pitch decrease from 12° pitch angle to 4° pitch angle taking place during half (180°) of rotation. Similarly there is an increase from 4° to 12° which takes place during the following 180° of movement. 3. _ Increasing collective pitch increases the blade drag and if not compensated for by an increase in engine power will lead to reduced rotor rpm and an increased coning angle. (The opposite being true for decreased collective pitch). In order to maintain rotor rpm it is usual to couple the engine throttle to the collective pitch lever such that raising the lever automatically increases the power and vice-versa. ‘There is usually a twist grip type of fine throttle control situated on the handle of the collective pitch lever which enables the pilot to make any adjustment necessary to the throttle setting at the same time.as he/she Toves the collective pitch lever-—~. NNN ia | rey Although there are various mechastisms for ¢ontrolling the collective and cyclic pitch of the main rotor, twp methods will be considered. They dre: (a) ThejSwash Plate system. ‘The controls of an aircraft are said to be instinctive. This means that when the pilot wants the helicopter to climb then he/she pulls up on the collective lever, and when descent is required the lever is pushed down. And similarly for the other controls: Left foot forward on the pedals - helicopter yaws to the left. Right foot forward on the pedals - helicopter yaws to the right. Cyclic stick to the left - helicopter moves to the left. Cyclic stick to the right - helicopter moves to the right. Cyclic stick to the rear - helicopter moves backwards. Cyclic stick forward - helicopter moves forward. -37-Sense Sense is defined as the correct movement of the rotor blades in relationship to the pilots input. This is most important. It is part of the checks and the duplicate inspections that must be carried out after any part of the control system has been worked on. Sense means: Collective lever up - the pitch angle of all main rotor blades increases. Collective lever down - the pitch angle of all main rotor blades decreases. Left foot forward on the tail rotor pedals - the tail rotor pitch angle changes such that the thrust from the tail rotor will cause the tail to move to the right, aircraft yaws left. Right foot forward on the tail rotor pedals - the pitch of the tail rotor changes such that the thrust from the tail rotor will cause the tail to move to the left, aircraft yaws right. om ~ : ama Ce = ‘IMPORTANT. Check on the direction of rotation of the tail roto? before deciding whether the blades should\inerease or decrease pitch } | Si lever: /} | to the left - the main blade moving tothe right of the helicopterincreases pitch 90° before it reaches the right hand position. The bladé moving to the lleft redyives pitch 90° before it reaches the left ani position. | | i | td the right/- the main blade moving td the right reducts pitch 90° before it reaches the right hand position. THe blade moving {to thé left increases pitch 90° before it reaches the left hand position. forward - the advancing blade decreases its pitch 90° before it reaches the forward position. The retreating blade increases its pitch 90° before it reaches its rear position. rearwards - the advancing blade increases its pitch 90° before it reaches the forward position. The retreating blade decreases its pitch 90° before it reaches its rear position. Control System Layout In general all flying control systems are laid out in a similar form. The main input to the system being the pilot (secondary inputs include auto pilot, auto stabiliser etc). The output is the blade movement. - 38-In general the sequence of the principal components in the system from main input to output is: 1, Pilots input 2. Artificial feel 3. Auto pilot/auto stabiliser input 4, PFCU 5. Main or tail rotor ROTOR SHAFT 4 syasnecare r < coLLectvE pcs CONTROL i. coutotve | | cee , ‘ my) | eycuc een ry “ ra Scruntonsmrdoe | d ara onTASL. | (x0 70 | ‘AIRFRAME, ZF POE ruors neuro efuatonrcs Le Fig. 36 TYPICAL FLYING CONTROL SYSTEM LAYOUT ‘The drawing above shows a typical push/pull rod system with valve/ram type PFCUs. The smaller helicopters are manually controlled with the push/pull rods being connected directly to the swashplate. When the collective lever is pulled up the system causes the swash plate to lift increasing the angle of all the blades. When cyclic pitch is applied the swash plate will tilt in the correct direction. Each PFCU comprises a piston rod, attached to the fuselage at one end, and a jack body, controlled by a servo valve. It is connected to the pressure and return lines of the aircraft hydraulic system. -39-When the controls are moved this causes the slide valve in the servo valve to move in the same direction. This will cause pressure fluid to flow to one side of the piston and open the other side to return. As the piston is attached to the structure the jack body will move - in the same direction as the slide valve movement. The jack body movement will cause will cause the non-rotating swash plate to tilt thus tilting the rotating swashplate. This will then cause the control rods to alter the pitch of the main rotor blades. When the control movement stops the servo valve slide is held stationary. For a fraction of a second the jack body complete with servo valve body continues to move. This movement will cause the ports in the servo valve to align with the slide valve thus shutting off the supply. This will cause the jack to stop moving and be held stationary in a hydraulic lock. In the event of hydraulic system failure a lockpin will automatically lock the input lever, and open both sides of the jack to allow fluid to flow freely from one side to-the other. The pilot will move the controls manually using the PFCU as a linkin the system. ; [| oy im | | | LAI | / \ J / jl DE PRESSURISED PRESSURISED Se J roa Eo Pista sano von | samS vase came ea eae ay en (O) | Fpap mo Fig. 37 TYPICAL PFCU OPERATION A048 -When the collective lever is moved this causes the collective PFCU to move the whole of the swashplate up or down so changing all the blade pitches together. When the cyclic stick is moved the system of levers and rods will input into one or both of the PFCUs (some helicopters may have 3 cyclic inputs) to tilt the swash plate in the correct direction. ‘The rear rotor system will be either a push/pull system, or more likely, a cable system connecting the rudder bar with a PFCU at the tail rotor - or directly with a screw jack if manually controlled. Figure 38 shows a schematic for a system fitted with trim, artificial feel and auto pilot servo. ‘The trim actuator, electrically or manually operated, will move all the control system to a new neutral inputting the PFCU to move the swash plate to a new neutral. Artificial feel is provided by a “spring box” which the pilot will push or pull against. j ‘The A/P servo or actuator can be electrically or hydraulically driven’and is shown in series with the control system. This means that when it moves it only moves the linkage downstream from the unit; In other words ‘the cockpit controls do not move. In some aitcraft the actuator/system layout can be in such a Way so that when the actuator movés it will move the whole system including the controls in the cockpit - thisis\called parallel connection. ‘The A/P servo responds to signals from the A/P computer which has gyro, air data and feed back signal inputs, / ‘ropacr CYCLIC STICK —7 mt [] emainare —— 7 EB Fig. 38 SIMPLIFIED CONTROL SYSTEM SCHEMATIC Tail Rotor Controls ‘The conventional tail rotor control - the spider system - is shown. Movement, in or out, of the spider will cause all the blades to increase or decrease pitch simultaneously. The spider may be controlled by a screw jack, chain, and cable system, or by a PFCU operated by a push/pull rod. -41-‘TAIL ROTOR BLADE PITCH CHANGE AXIS PITCH CHANGE LINK. SPIDER DOES NOT TILT BUT MOVES IN AND OUT WITH RUDDER PEDAL INPUT BLADES PIVOTED TO REDUCE BLADE STRESSES (FLAPPING HINGE) r , Fig. 39 TAIL ROTOR PITCH CHANGE MECHANISM _ ~ \ | || \\ | Bias Trim Control \| i | \ Fitted on bome helicopters to welele pilot of control load in any cor flight by dpplying a bias force to the cyclic eontrols. It effectively trims’ the whole system to a new neutral. \ \ tC | /I | | | | Mixing Unit / | / \ Some helicopters have a mixing unit designed to synchronise cyclic and collective control movements to the main rotor. It comprises of a collective bellcrank which has three forks and on the forks are mounted the cyclic belleranks. Yaw Control Damper Fitted to some helicopters to limit the rate of tail rotor pedal displacement and provides the pilot with a degree of "feel". It is a dashpot system that limits the Tate of movement by the flow of fluid passing through a restrictor. AUTOMATIC FLIGHT CONTROL Controlled by a computer with gyro and air data inputs it will normally send an analogue signal to an electrically operated hydraulic control valve (usually called a Servo Valve). This valve may be before the PFCU in the control system - it may be incorporated within it. The drawing below shows a typical simplified combined PFCU and Auto-Flight (Auto-Pilot) servo. -42-oumurro Pred ProU Mone Note. THe drawing does not show a by- prsahe- this has been omitted for clarity. In the event of hydrauli¢ system failure the by-pass valve will open and connect one side of the main jack to the other, at the same time it will lock the sun)ming iinks. This will allow the pilot to move the controls, direct - With some difficulty. The PFCU main jack will hent be moved directly by the pilot - which being al the © will movp the contros - the fui inthe jack ed to pass freely from one side to the other. Fig. 40 COMBINED phen 4 AND AUTO-FLIGHT SERVO Manual Mode c [ } When the pilot operates his controls (say to the left) the input will cause the LINK to rotate about point A (to the left). This will cause the PUSH/PULL LINK (moving to the left) to rotate the OPERATING LEVER about its pivot selecting the MAIN SERVO. ‘This will cause fluid under pressure to flow to one side or the other of the MAIN JACK, connecting the other side to return. The jack will move to the left and this state of affairs will continue while the pilot keeps up the input. When the pilot stops the input the main jack will continue to move for a fraction of a second (to the left). During this time the link is held stationary at point B and as point A is moving to the left the whole of the link is rotating clockwise about point B - the push/pull link is moving to the right thus cancelling the main servo selection. This is called NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. Once cancelled the main jack is held in its new position by a hydraulic lock - until the next input selection. In this mode the SUMMING LINKS allows the link to move freely. -43-Auto-Flight Mode When the pilot selects AUTO PILOT or any other automatic flight mode, the various computers will send signals, normally via one computer to the AUTO- FLIGHT SERVO. This is usually a de analogue signal which will operate a solenoid in the auto-flight servo, and cause it to select. Upon selection the AUTO-FLIGHT CONTROL JACK will move, and move the link, via the summing links. The link will rotate about point A. The same feed back process within the PFCU will now occur as in the manual mode. Theis a position transmitter within the PFCU (not shown) to let the computer know its position. Of course the computer has its own feed back systems. O Noe AUTO'STAB AND AUTO PILOT ‘The inherent instability of a semi-rigid main rotor system leads to the | requirement for an auto stab system. With the non-hinged rotor, thelaircraft has a djvérgent response in pitch (the fore and aft plane) at high speeds. This produces a change in thrust, due to-the-incidence change, which-produces an acceleration of the aircraft along the (colleetive) axis of the Th rotor. This effect is sometimgs called 'porpoising’. The system uses two computers linked together - the noel Flight Control Computer (AFCS) and the Computer Acceleration Control (CAC); ‘The AFCS receives information about disturbances in pitch, roll, and yaw. This information comes from airframe mounted gyros mounted within their own unit. ‘The CAC receives information from accelerometers on vertical accelerations and accelerations in yaw. The outputs from the system are from the AFCS. This is an analogue signal which is in duplex form (channels 1 & 2) to the PFCU servo valve. When a disturbance in aircraft attitude occurs the computers are informed of the rate, direction, and amount of the disturbance. They calculate the amount and direction of the control response and send the appropriate signal to the servo valve. This will cause the PFCU to respond and move the controls in the correct direction. Feed back signals (negative feedback) will cause the original signal to be cancelled as the aircraft returns to its correct position. The feedback is obtained from two sources - the PFCU position pick-off and the gyros/accelerometers on the airframe. -44-The authority of the auto-stab system is limited to 10% of the normal range of movement - effective about the position of the main jack. Corrections performed by auto-stab do not move the normal flying control system. (System is a parallel system). Position transmitters in the longitudinal and lateral cyclic control runs transmit pilot input data to the AFCS computer so that auto-stab does not try to correct for changes in the helicopter attitude caused by the pilot. Auto-Pilot The auto-pilot uses barometric pressure (static pressure from the Pitot/static system) to maintain a selected height setting without the need for pilot intervention. The auto pilot will also maintain a selected heading by the use of signals obtained from a master compass. ‘The alito-pilot uses the AFCS computer {in’some aircraft it has its own, computer) and commands are signdlled to the collective and re PFOUs using the same duplex signal channels|as for auto stab. lI Should auto-pilot demands require more than 25% of the auto stab range, then engaged electrical parallel actuators in-thé collective and yaw flying control linkages will motor the flying controls to establish a revised neutral position of the appfopriate control servo. | | i] Controls and Indications aa Auto stab and auto-pilot can be engaged and dis-engaged by the pilot. A button on the cyclic stick (AFCS CUT-OUT) cancels pitch, roll, and yaw. A button on the collective lever cancels height hold. Pedal micro-switches cancel heading hold when the feet are placed on the pedals. A further button on the cyclic stick will cut-out the CAC. When the auto-pilot channels are disengaged the associated parallel actuators are de-clutched from the flying controls. Checking control systems with PFCUs, auto-pilot servos etc. The following general points should be noted: * Always refer to the aircraft maintenance manual. * Carry out a control system check with the system in manual. -45-SWITCH COLLECTIVE, LEVER Fig. 41 COCKPIT CONTROLS Va / Carry out a control’system check with the PFQUs on. This will require electrical, and hydraulic power ON. Check that the PFCU engages and dis-engages smoothly. Check that it operates smoothly, then carry out similar checks to the manual system, Configure the computers to "TEST". Carry out any Built In Test (BIT) procedure as laid down in the manual. Check that the servo/s engage and dis-engage smoothly - and operates smoothly. During the test programme check that the controls move in the correct sense and give a correct co-ordinated response to the computer inputs. These will be given in the manual. During this stage several computers may have to be switched on including a flight management computer, and the Pitot/static system may have to be "pressurised”. Ensure all flight deck indicators work correctly and that all modes of ENGAGING/DIS-ENGAGING the system are tested. Visually examine all components for serviceability. arAUTHORITY, j | / | j | It is IMPORTANT to note that the information in this book is for-) study training purposes only. When carrying out a procedure/work on aircraft/aircraft equipment you MUST always refer to the relevant aircraft maintenance manual or equipment manufacturer's handbook. You should also follow the requirements of your national regulatory authority (the CAA in the UK) and laid down company policy as regards local procedures, recording, report writing, documentation etc. For health and safety in the workplace you should follow the regulations/ guidelines as specified by the equipment manufacturer, your company, national safety authorities and national governments.