The First Wind Tunnel Test of the DLR’s Multiple Swashplate System: Test Procedure and Preliminary Results

In September 2015 the DLR completed the first wind tunnel test of its patented Multiple Swashplate System (META) in the DNW’s Large Low-Speed Facility (LLF) in the Netherlands. During these tests, the potential of this new active rotor control system to effectively reduce noise, vibrations and power consumption using several individual blade control (IBC) strategies, including 2=rev inputs, was successfully demonstrated on two different model rotors without using actuators in the rotating frame. For a Mach-scaled Bo105 model rotor power reductions of up to