SMA actuator for helicopter blade twist

Bernardino Galasso; Salvatore Ameduri; Antonio Concilio

doi:10.1117/12.2627334

20 April 2022 SMA actuator for helicopter blade twist

Bernardino Galasso, Salvatore Ameduri, Antonio Concilio

Proceedings Volume 12043, Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems XVI; 120431F (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627334
Event: SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation, 2022, Long Beach, California, United States

Conference Poster

Abstract

In this work, attention is paid to a SMA blade twist demonstrator conceived for wind tunnel and whirl tower tests, planned in SABRE (“Shape Adaptive Blades for Rotorcraft Efficiency”, an H2020 Project). The model reproduces a blade segment of the Bo 105 helicopter, and aims at demonstrating the effectiveness of an SMA-based architecture (distributed active torsion tube) in altering the original twist to achieve better aerodynamic performance. The full-size device is representative of the original blade segment both geometrically and mechanically, exhibiting comparable performance in terms of mass distribution, and bending and torsional stiffness. Because the maximum allowable length of the SMA actuators undergoing tests was necessarily limited, the abovementioned demonstrator was given a modular architecture and split into different cells (or bays), each containing a single SMA rod. The single cell layout was composed of two main components: a primary structure made of a transversal (main) spar and ribs (the skeleton), and a secondary one made of the skin and its assembly parts. Each SMA rod, activated through a heating coil, is integrated within a box-shaped metallic spar that participates in absorbing loads (passive function) and transmitting twist (active function). The bays are then connected each other by merging the edge ribs; therefore, any complete rib will be made of two portions but the first and last ones. In the paper, a FE model is presented, aimed at verifying the resistance criteria required for the wind tunnel test.

Citation Download Citation

Bernardino Galasso, Salvatore Ameduri, and Antonio Concilio "SMA actuator for helicopter blade twist", Proc. SPIE 12043, Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems XVI, 120431F (20 April 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2627334

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