24th Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, 29 August-3, September 2004, Yokohama, Japan
Paper ICAS 2004-2.9.3 (St.)

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF ROTOR VORTEX WAKES IN DESCENT

J. Stack
University of California Berkeley, USA

Keywords: helix rotor visualization vortex wake

An experimental study is performed on a three-bladed rotor model in two water tanks. Operating parameters were varied in order to simulate a range of rotorcraft operating states, focusing on cases where the rotor is operating in vortex ring state. Regular, periodic thrust fluctuations of up to 95% are recorded.

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