1. Green RotorCraft ITD
Sub-project GRC1
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
Innovative Rotor Blades
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2. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Objectives
Objective
“the development of active and passive technologies to provide the greatest
possible reduction in rotor noise and fuel consumption”
The main rotor of a helicopter is both
the main user of power (and hence
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
fuel), and the main source of intrusive
noise. Working directly to improve the
efficiency and reduce the noise of the
main rotor is a highly effective way of
reducing fuel usage, CO2 and NOX
emissions, and rotorcraft generated
noise levels. Current reduction targets
are -8% hover power, -3% cruise power 2
and -6dB in noise on approach 2

3. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Plan and Schedule
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
WP1 ‐ Technology Evaluation, Selection
and Development
WP2 ‐ Model Rotor Design and Testing
WP3 ‐ Full Scale Blade Design
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
WP4 ‐ Whirl Tower Testing
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4. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Planned Results
Following initial selection of technologies, the anticipated outcomes are -
• ACTIVE TWIST – full scale demonstration of active twist system, with analysis
to assess future exploitation challenges, benefits in line with GRC1 objectives
and airworthiness / safety evaluation
• ACTIVE GURNEY FLAP – full scale demonstration and testing of a full main
rotor with a built-in, actively controlled Gurney flap system
• PASSIVE ROTOR OPTIMISATION – full scale demonstration and testing of
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
an optimised passive rotor on a whirl tower, with further analysis of other
passive technology concepts
• LAMINAR FLOW AEROFOILS – testing of laminar flow aerofoils installed on
top of conventional main rotor blades
• SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES – development of all necessary
manufacturing techniques, control and power supply systems, and data 4
gathering capabilities necessary to support the physical demonstration activities
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5. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Participants
• The GRC1 team includes rotorcraft OEMs, Research Institutions, Academia
and independent SMEs
Academia
University of Twente
Technical University
of Delft
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
SMEs
Rotorcraft OEMs
Airborne
AgustaWestland
Micromega
Eurocopter
LMS
PZL Swidnik
Eurocarbon
Research Institutions
CIRA
DLR
NLR 5
ONERA 5

6. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Active Twist Concept
Development of a full scale, active twist blade segment based on integrated
piezoelectric actuators. Active twist will allow the blade shape to be changed in
flight to improve performance and/or reduce rotor generated noise.
- GRC1 partners are working to develop, build and test a full-scale
representative rotor blade section with piezoelectric actuators built into the
blade structure
- Prototype actuators have been produced for testing, and evaluation work is
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
underway
- Detailed consideration has also been given to airworthiness requirements
for this type of active blade system
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7. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Passive Blade Optimisation
Development of an optimised integrated, 3D blade geometry aiming to maximise
performance and minimise noise from a passive main rotor blade. An optimised
full-scale blade will be tested on a whirl tower.
The optimisation studies are using state of
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
the art, multi-objective, genetic algorithms to
assess all possible combinations of –
- Blade chord distribution
- Blade twist distribution
- Additional blade features (e.g. anhedral)
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8. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Active Gurney Flaps
An active Gurney flap system is being developed for a full scale main rotor blade.
This technology will be thoroughly tested in 2D wind tunnel tests, in wind tunnel
model rotor tests, and at full scale on a whirl tower. The active use of the Gurney
flap is intended to modify the aerodynamic properties of the blade to improve
efficiency and/or reduce noise.
- New modelling and CFD techniques have
been developed to study the operation and
performance of active gurney flap systems
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- Additional partners have been recruited to
design, manufacture and supply the
actuation systems required for testing
- Ongoing concept development work also
includes control algorithms, analysis of
potential failure modes and full aircraft 8
integration 8

9. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Active Gurney Flaps
The active Gurney flap system poses some difficult challenges for the design of a
suitable actuation system due to the limited space available close to the trailing
edge of a rotor blade -
• preliminary studies have already been carried out by several GRC1 partners
• additional partners will eventually be recruited through the Clean Sky CfP process
to complete the design and manufacturing activities for the actuation systems
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
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Possible Gurney flap deployment concepts 9

10. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Active Gurney Flaps
The development of suitable
control algorithms is also a
challenging area. All components
of the active system must be
accurately modelled to obtain
truly representative results in
Coupled analysing -
• Force
Simulation
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• system dynamic stability
• Displacement • component forces
• Velocity • aerodynamic loads
• inertial loads in environment
with high accelerations
• power consumption
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11. GRC1 – Innovative Rotor Blades : Active Gurney Flaps
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Performance assessments so far have
indicated that an active Gurney flap
system could be capable of producing
useful reductions in main rotor power
requirements and noise – broadly in line
with the original project objectives
Ongoing studies are continuing to
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optimise the characteristics of the Gurney
flap system in terms of –
• radial position
• chordwise position
• azimuthal deployment
• flap size
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12. Clean Sky JU / Green RotorCraft ITD
© 2011 by the CleanSky JU / Green Rotorcraft ITD (GRC) Members: AgustaWestland,
Eurocopter, Liebherr-Aerospace, Hispano-Suiza, Thales Avionics Electrical Systems,
Wytwornia Sprzetu Komunikacyjnego PZL Swidnik, Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches
Aérospatiales, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Centro Italiano Ricerche
Aerospaziali, SELEX Sistemi Integrati, Airborne Composites, Alphei Pueschel Roesler - Akustik
Technologie Goettingen, Eurocarbon, Fibre Optic Sensors and Sensing Systems, LMS
International, Microflown Technologies, Micromega Dynamics, Stichting Nationaal Lucht- en
Ruimtevaartlaboratorium, Technische Universiteit Delft, Universiteit Twente,
© 2011 – CSJU/GRC-ITD Members
All rights reserved. This presentation material is provided for information of parties/persons
invited to the meeting as indicated herewith. No information contained in this material may be
disclosed to any other party/person, nor reproduced in whole or in part, nor used without the
prior written consent of the specific GRC member(s) to which the information belong(s).
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