Rotorcrafts

Hernán Amaya BEng. MSc. PhD.

Presentation Overview

• Blade Element Theory - Hover.

Blade Element Theory

• William Froude 1878, includes the study of a propeller (airfoil) cross section.
• Stefan Drzewiecki 1892-1920, added the propeller forward velocity and the Ω𝑅 (no
induced velocity considered). Discover differences between experimentation and
theory due the fact that the sectional characteristic was not considered.

• A. Betz and Bothezat and then Fage and Collins 1915-1918, they take into
consideration the induced velocity (not sure where to apply the induced
velocity) Therefore, there were still differences between experimentation
and theory.
• Prandtl finite wing theory 1918, Vortex Theory approach (very complex,
used in computer) to get the proper value of inflow at the rotor disk.

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Blade Element Theory
𝑈𝑝 = 𝑣𝑐 + 𝑣𝑖 Velocity perpendicular to the disk.
𝑈𝑇 = Ω𝑦 Tangential velocity.
𝑈= Ω𝑦 2 + 𝑣𝑐 + 𝑣𝑖 2 Resultant velocity.
𝑈𝑝
tan 𝜙 =
𝑈𝑇
𝑈
𝛼 = 𝜃 − 𝜙 = 𝜃 − tan−1 𝑈𝑝 Effective angle of attack.
𝑇

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*Leishman J. G., (2006). Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics. Cambridge University Press.
Blade Element Theory

The aerodynamic section of the rotor blade starts at about 20-25% away from the
centre, because of the hub, attachments, etc.
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𝐿 = 2 𝜌𝑈 2 𝑐𝐶𝑙 ∗ 𝑑𝑦 Lift per unit span (at any small element).
𝑐 = 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑑
1
𝐿 = 𝜌𝑐𝐶𝑙𝛼 Ω𝑦 2 𝜃 − 𝑈𝑝 𝑈𝑇 ∗ 𝑑y Approximation.
2
𝐶𝑙𝛼 = 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒

1
𝐷 = 2 𝜌𝑈 2 𝑐𝐶𝑑 ∗ 𝑑𝑦 Drag per unit span (at any small element).

For the total lift and drag, it is necessary to integrate (integration).

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Blade Element Theory
𝑅1
𝑇 = 𝑏 ‫׬‬0 2 𝜌𝑐𝐶𝑙𝛼 Ω𝑦 2 𝜃 − 𝑈𝑝 𝑈𝑇 ∗ 𝑑y Thrust (total lift that acts on all the blades).
𝑏 = 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠
1 𝜃 𝜆
𝑇 = 2 𝜌𝐶𝑙𝛼 𝑏𝑐𝑈𝑇2 𝑅 −2 Elemental thrust.
3
1
𝑏 𝑐 1
𝐶𝑡 = 2
𝑅
‫׬‬0 𝐶𝑙𝛼 𝑟 2 𝜃 − 𝜆𝑟 𝑑𝑟 Thrust coefficient.
𝑦
𝑟=𝑅 Nondimensional quantity.
𝑏𝑐𝑅 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝜎 = 𝜋𝑅2 = Rotor solidity (for a rectangular blade-c constant).
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑘 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎

𝜎𝐶𝑙𝛼 1
𝐶𝑡 = ‫׬‬0 𝑟 2 𝜃 − 𝜆𝑟 𝑑𝑟 Normalised (nondimensional).
2
𝜎𝐶𝑙𝛼 𝜃 𝜆
𝐶𝑡 = − Zero twist assumed.
2 3 2

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Blade Element Theory
𝜎𝐶𝑙𝛼 𝜃 𝜆𝑖
𝐶𝑡 = − Zero twist and hover.
2 3 2
6𝐶𝑡 3 𝐶𝑡
𝜃= + Pitch angle (zero twist and hover).
𝜎𝐶𝑙𝛼 2 2
𝑊=𝑇
𝐶𝑤 = 𝐶𝑡
𝑊
𝐶𝑤 = 𝜌𝜋𝑅2 Ω𝑅 2
𝐶𝑡
𝐵𝐿 = Blade Loading (how much each blade lifts).
𝜎
1
𝑃 = 𝑇 𝑣𝑐 + 𝑣𝑖 + 8 𝜌𝑏𝑐𝑅𝑈𝑇3 𝐶𝑑𝑜 Power required (for a constant chord blade).
1
𝑃 = 𝑇𝑣𝑖 + 8 𝜌𝑏𝑐𝑅𝑈𝑇3 𝐶𝑑𝑜 Power required at hover.

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Blade Element Theory
Total Torque in hover:
𝑅
1 2 𝑈𝑝 𝑈𝑝 1 2
𝑄 = න 𝑑𝑄 = 𝑏 𝜌𝑈𝑇 𝑐𝐶𝑙𝛼 𝜃 − + 𝜌𝑈 𝑐𝐶 𝑟𝑑𝑟
0 2 𝑈𝑇 𝑈𝑇 2 𝑇 𝑑

𝑃 = 𝑄Ω Total Power.
𝑄
𝐶𝑄 = 𝜌𝜋𝑅2 Torque coefficient (non-dimensional-nd).
Ω𝑅 2 𝑅
𝑃=𝑄Ω
𝐶𝑃 = Power coefficient (constant RPM-nd).
𝜌𝜋𝑅 2 Ω𝑅 2 Ω𝑅
𝐶𝑃 = 𝐶𝑄 That’s why we always use Cp.
𝐶𝑄 = 𝐶𝑃 = 𝐶𝑃𝑐 + 𝐶𝑃𝑖 + 𝐶𝑃𝑜 For hover and climb.
𝐶𝑝 = 𝐶𝑃𝑖 + 𝐶𝑃𝑜 For hover.
𝐶𝑃𝑖 = 𝜆𝑖 𝐶𝑡 Induced Power Coefficient (uniform inflow).
𝜎𝐶𝑑
𝐶𝑃𝑜 = Profile Power Coefficient. 6
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Blade Element Theory
3/2
𝐶𝑡
𝐶𝑃𝑖 = 𝑘 ∗ Induced Power Coefficient (non-uniform
2
inflow).
𝑘 = 1.15 Additional losses factor (+15%).

Figure of Merit (M):

3/2
𝐶𝑡
𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 2
𝑀= = 3/2
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑡 𝜎𝐶
𝑘∗ + 8𝑑
2
𝑀 = 0.75 𝑡𝑜 0.8 efficient rotor.
𝑀 = 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 0.5 inefficient rotor Used to compare two rotor values
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Blade Element Theory

Advance Light MI-26

Helicopter
Ω𝑅 𝑚/𝑠 217 221
𝜎 0.09645 0.1271
𝐶𝑡 0.00497 0.00976
𝜆 0.05 0.0699
𝐶𝑑𝑜 0.01 0.01
M 0.5044 0.577

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Worked Examples

Momentum Theory:
1. Determine the induced velocity and power required to support a mass of
5000 kg. Assume a rotor radius of 6.5 m and sea-level standard
conditions.

Blade Element Theory:

2. Using the results from the momentum theory approach, determine
the blade pitch and power required. Assume a four bladed rotor
operating at a speed of 35 rad/s. The blade chord is 0.4 m, the
zero-lift drag coefficient equals 0.0081 and the lift curve slope is
5.73 per radian.

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Thank You