Aeroelastic optimization of a helicopter rotor using an efficient sensitivity analysis

A structural optimization analysis of a hingeless helicopter rotor is developed and applied with the objective of reducing oscillatory hub loads in forward flight. The aeroelastic analysis of the rotor is based on a finite element method in space and time and is linked with automated optimization algorithms. Two types of structural blade representations are used: a generic stiffness-distribution beam and a single-cell, thin-walled beam. For the generic beam representation the design variables are nonstructural mass and its placement, chordwise center of gravity offset from the elastic axis, and structural stiffness (flap, lag, and torsion). For the second type of structural representation, spar width, height, and thickness are used as design variables instead of blade stiffness. Constraints on frequency placement, autorotational inertia, and aeroelastic stability of the blade are included. Sensitivity derivatives are efficiently calculated using a direct analytical approach, with a resulting 80% reduction in total CPU time required to obtain an optimum solution compared with a commonly used finite-difference approach. Optimum solutions resulted in reductions of 25-77% for the generic blade, and 30-50% for the box-beam blade relative to baseline values of the objective function that was comprised of all six components of hub load.

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