Limerick, Ireland
Helicopter Senior Design Project
Scroll ↓
I lead a small team in sizing a hex tilt-rotor concept for the Uber Elevate mission. I also learned how to calculate various rotorcraft performance characteristics and evaluate eVTOL designs against each other.
Performance Calculations
I learned how to calculate basic performance characteristics of a rotorcraft using a detailed declassified performance report for the Fairchild-Hiller FH-1000 submitted to the U.S. Army. I applied these techniques to the Schweizer 333 and compared my results against published data.
Altitude-Airspeed Limits
I used the power and rotor constraints to define the flight envelope of the Schweizer 333. The flight envelope shown matches well with published data. For example, the published never exceed speed of 110 knots matches the active constraint of reversing blade compressiblity at sea level.
Power Required
The induced, profile, and parasite power components for the helicopter are calculated and co-plotted to generate a power required curve.
Other Characteristics
I calculated characteristics such as hover ceiling, service ceiling, rate of climb, autorotative descent rate, endurance, and range for the Schweizer 333.
Sensitivity + Sizing Studies for the Uber Elevate Mission
I lead a team of 3 students to conduct sensitivities studies of 3 concepts for the Uber Elevate study. Using a modified Rf method, we were able to determine the effects of the range and hover time requirements on the gross weight of the vehicle. The calculated gross weight for a hex-tilt rotor concept based on the Uber Elevate requirements was 5710 lb which matches well with the published 6000 lb claim for the Bell Nexus. The performance characteristics of the hex-tilt concept were found along with the power required curve. Using this information, the complexity and criticality, as defined by Uber, of the hex-tilt rotor concept were found so that it could be compared against other eVTOL concepts.
