Modelling of a SMA Blade Twist System Suited for Demonstration in Wind Tunnel and Whirl Tower Plants
-
Published:2023-11-04
Issue:21
Volume:13
Page:12039
-
ISSN:2076-3417
-
Container-title:Applied Sciences
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Applied Sciences
Author:
Ameduri Salvatore1, Ciminello Monica1ORCID, Concilio Antonio1ORCID, Dimino Ignazio1ORCID, Galasso Bernardino1ORCID, Guida Mariano2, Bruno Giovanni3, Miceli Marco Fabio4
Affiliation:
1. Department of Adaptive Structures, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, Italy 2. Department of Simulations and Virtual Reality Applications, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, Italy 3. Laboratory of Space Qualification, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, Italy 4. ALI—Aerospace Laboratory for Innovative Components—S.C.A.R.L., 80146 Naples, Italy
Abstract
In this work, the modeling of a demonstrator of a morphing system aimed at altering the twist of a rotorcraft blade is presented. The device was conceived for two different representative environments: the wind tunnel plant of the University of Bristol and the whirl tower facility of the DLR, for tests in fixed and wing rotary configurations, respectively. The concept, conceived and matured within the European Project of SABRE, is based on shape memory alloys, SMA. This technology was selected for its intrinsic compactness and solidity, which better meet the requirements of a typical blade structure, being extremely flexible and subjected to relevant inertial loads. A dedicated structural layout was conceived to favor the working modality of the SMA torsional system; this architecture was tailored both to absorb the typical actions occurring onto a blade and to assure a certain level of pre-twist necessary for the SMA strain recovery. The activation of the SMA was performed through an electrothermal helicoidal coil wrapped around it. A dedicated network of sensors was integrated within the structure to measure the impact of the different actions on the blade system. This subsystem, functional to shape reconstruction operations, is capable of splitting the contribution of the loads to pure twist and flapping. At first, the requirements imposed by the two test facilities were elaborated together to the operational needs, arriving at the issue of the most relevant specifications. Secondly, the conceptual and advanced design were considered, demonstrating, first, the feasibility of the concept and, then, its compliance with the test environment. The work ends with two different layouts, conceived respectively for the tests in fixed and rotary wing configurations. For both of them, a performance estimate was addressed, and a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages was presented.
Funder
European Research Council
Subject
Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes,Computer Science Applications,Process Chemistry and Technology,General Engineering,Instrumentation,General Materials Science
Reference58 articles.
1. ICAO (2023, September 16). Effects of Climate Change on Aviation Business and Economics. Available online: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Documents/Factsheet%20Business%20and%20Economics%20Final.pdf. 2. Aviation Benefits (2023, September 16). COVID-19’s Impact on Air Transport. Available online: https://aviaionbenefits.org/covid-19s-impact-on-air-transport/. 3. ITF (2023, September 16). How the War in Ukraine Impacts Aviation—And What to Do about It. Available online: https://www.itf-oecd.org/war-ukraine-impacts-aviation. 4. Sun, M., Tian, Y., Zhang, Y., Nadeem, M., and Xu, C. (2021). Environmental Impact and External Costs Associated with Hub-and-Spoke Network in Air Transport. Sustainability, 13. 5. Farhat, K.R., and Rana, A.S. (2023). Significant Factors Affecting Quality and Quality Maximizing Methods of Construction Projects In Outskirt Areas of Afghanistan. IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci., 889, Available online: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/889/1/012078/pdf.
|
|