Vertical Lift: Rotary- and Flapping-Wing Flight
A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Aeronautics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 29 November 2024 | Viewed by 2899
Special Issue Editors
Interests: rotary- and flapping-wing vehicles; modeling, simulation, and order reduction; flight dynamics and control; aeromechanics; rotorcraft handling qualities; system identification; time-periodic systems; human-machine interaction; virtual, augmented, and extended reality (VR/AR/XR)
Interests: biomechanics and mechanobiology; mechanical sciences; sensors & controls
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Hovering is a fascinating ability in both engineering and biology, allowing rotary-wing vehicles and flapping-wing vehicles or insects (in contrast to fixed-wing vehicles) to remain stationary in the air relative to the ground. This shared capability places both rotary- and flapping-wing vehicles within the overarching category of vertical lift. This mode of flight presents significant challenges in terms of modeling and analysis due to its complexity. Challenges emanate from the multi-body, nonlinear, high-order, and time-varying dynamics inherent in these vehicles’ motion. In this type of locomotion, the time-varying wing/blade dynamics interact with the aggregate body dynamics and unsteady flow dynamics intricately and synergistically. Because the dynamics of hovering vehicles are typically unstable, high order, and with significant cross-coupling between motion axes, flight control design is often essential. Flight control systems are not only necessary for stabilizing the dynamics and imposing desired response characteristics but also, in the case of rotorcraft, for alleviating the workload of the pilot. Owing to these challenges, the study of vertical lift vehicles encompasses a wide range of multidisciplinary research areas. These include aerodynamics, flight dynamics, stability and control, structures, structural dynamics, aeroelasticity, propulsion, acoustics, autonomy, biology, and biomechanics. Therefore, this Special Issue is dedicated to showcasing the latest advancements in vertical lift and welcomes contributions in all the aforementioned areas, as they pertain to rotary- and flapping-wing vehicles.
Dr. Umberto Saetti
Dr. Bo Cheng
Dr. Pierluigi Capone
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- rotorcraft
- flapping-wing flight
- aerodynamics
- fluid dynamics
- stability and control
- structures
- structural dynamics
- aeroelasticity
- propulsion
- acoustics
- autonomy
- biology
- biomechanics
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Numerical modeling, trim, and linearization of a side-by-side helicopter in hover
Authors: Francesco Mazzeo; Marilena Pavel; Daniele Fattizzo; Emanuele Luigi de Angelis; Fabrizio Giulietti
Affiliation: Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology
Abstract: In the present paper, a flight dynamics model is adopted to represent the trim and stability characteristics of a side-by-side helicopter in hovering conditions. The paper develops a numerical representation of the rotorcraft behavior and proposes a set of guidelines for trimming and linearizing the highly-coupled rotor dynamics derived by the modeling approach. The trim algorithm presents two nested loops to compute a solution of the steady-state conditions averaged around one blade’s revolution. On the other hand, a 38-state-space linear representation of the helicopter and rotor dynamics is obtained to study the effects of flap, lead-lag, and inflow on the overall stability. The results are compared with an analytical framework, developed to validate the rotorcraft stability and compare different modeling approaches. The analysis showed that a non-uniform inflow modeling led to a coupled longitudinal inflow-phugoid mode which made the vehicle prone to dangerous instabilities. The flap and lead-lag dynamics introduce damping in the system and can be considered beneficial for rotor dynamics.