Research On Key Technologies Of Gyroplane Preliminary Design

Gyroplane is an aircraft that achieves lift by a free spinning rotor and achieves propulsion by airscrew,and it can takeoff vertically and land in extremely short distance. It has inherent safety, simplicity of operation, and outstanding short field point-to-point capability with lower expenses. To design a state-of-the-art gyroplane with jump takeoff capability, some key technologies have been investigated further which include the aerodynamic characteristics of autorotating rotor, the flight dynamic characteristics of gyroplane, the technology of jump start and takeoff in ultrashort distance, the multiobjective optimization design for gyroplane parameters, and the scheme of gyroplane rotor system and its control system. The preliminary design scheme of ZX1 type gyroplane is presented finally. The main contents of the thesis are as the followings.(1) An aerodynamic model of autorotating rotor is established through numerical integral method based on blade element theory, and dynamic inflow theory is introduced into this model. After demonstrated by the wind tunnel tests which carried out in the NKLRA of NUAA, the computation methods for predicting aerodynamic force of autorotating rotor and steady autorotation speed are presented. Then the relationships between the aerodynamic characteristics of autorotating rotor and design parameters are investigated, and the aerodynamic virtues of autorotating rotor are analyzed, as a result, the method for improving the performance of autorotating rotor is given.(2) The mathematic model of gyroplane flight dynamics is built. The trimming, controllability and stability characteristics of the ZX1 gyroplane are calculated and analyzed based on the model, and the results indicate that high&front profile gyros with horizontal stabilizer are reasonable configuration. The characteristics of jump start and takeoff in ultrashort distance are studied thoroughly by using energy equation and changing parameters. The thesis details the relationships among takeoff performance, design parameters and control of rotor. The method for improving the performance of jump takeoff is presented, and the scheme of the transmission system for jump takeoff is designed.(3) The improved Genetic algorithm, which integrates Pareto approach, fuzzy theory and the three tactics (colony ordination, niche technology, elitism preservation), is combined with DFSS(Design for Six Sigma) which can improve the reliability and robust of the optimized result. As a result, a novel multiobjective optimization approach for selecting the parameters of gyroplane is proposed. It demonstrates by numerical examples that the approach is feasible and efficient in design optimization. Aiming at the ZX1's requirements, the multiobjective optimization design for general parameters and thrust's & lift's system parameters is carried out, and a set of optimal parameters satisfying the design requirements are presented.(4) By analyzing the characteristics of teetering rotor's flap/lag/feather and the design trait of autorotating rotor, the rotor system and its control system of ZX1 are designed in drawing. And the system can run reliably for both prerotation on the ground and autorotation in the sky.(5) According to the ZX1's general requirements, the design about the structure, configuration, weight and gravity center of the gyroplane are investigated by applying CATIA, FLUENT, AUTOCAD, MATLAB, etc., on the basis of those forenamed studies. The research course is complicated and iterative. After balancing a lot of charts, diagrams, outlines, the preliminary design scheme of ZX1 gyroplane which satisfies the general requirements and the constraints from disciplines, is presented in conclusion, at the same time, the design scheme is validated in the wind tunnel tests in the NH-2 Lab of NUAA.The key technologies that come from design demand are investigated in the view of preliminary design. Some investigations are performed, such as theoretical calculation and experiments about the aerodynamic characteristics of autorotating rotor, the mathematic model of gyroplane flight dynamic characteristics and jump takeoff, and the scheme of whole gyroplane (including optimization design of parameter). Additionally, several practicable conclusions are presented, which are the method for designing and analyzing the performance of autorotating rotor, the approach for analyzing the characteristics of gyroplane flight dynamics and studying jump takeoff, the technique for designing aircraft and its systems.The solution to key technologies of the gyroplane development is detailed in this thesis, and the techniques and methods developed in the thesis can also be applied into other rotorcrafts researchs and developments.