Performance Measurements of Meso-Scale Cyclodial Rotors in Hover

2017 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved. This paper details the performance measurements (time averaged thrust forces, torque and rotational speed) of meso-scale cycloidal rotors design using a custom-built miniature three-component force balance. The cycloidal rotor is a revolutionary vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) propulsion concept, which consists of several blades that rotate about a horizontal axis with the blade span parallel to the axis of rotation. The pitch angle of each of the blades is varied periodically as the blade moves around the azimuth of the rotor such that the blade is at a positive geometric angle of attack both at the top and bottom halves of its circular trajectory. The force balance is designed to isolate the two orthogonal components of thrust as well as the torque generated by the rotor and perform time-averaged measurements of these loads. A systematic parametric study was performed to measure the resultant force and the power loading (thrust/power) of the cycloidal rotor by varying parameters such as blade pitch amplitude, number of blades and rotational speed (rpm). The objective of these studies was to experimentally optimize the thrust and aerodynamic efficiency of a meso-scale cycloidal rotor for a 29 grams hover-capable cyclocopter micro air vehicle (MAV).

Performance Measurements of Meso-Scale Cyclodial Rotors in Hover Conference Paper