Adaptive Rotor Speed Control for Aircraft Performance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rotorcraft systems lack adaptive control over rotor speed to optimize performance across various flight regimes and conditions, limiting their efficiency and capability.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that calculates and commands optimal rotor speed by integrating real-time data from sensors and algorithms, using a combination of collective rotor pitch governing and engine governing, to manage power within engine and gearbox limits, ensuring seamless operation across all flight conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If rotor speed is increased in high altitude and hot ambient conditions, then aircraft performance is improved, but energy consumption and mechanical stress increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts rotor speed based on real-time operating conditions (altitude, temperature, power available) rather than maintaining a fixed speed. The governor continuously modulates rotor speed to optimize performance while accounting for changing environmental factors and power availability, resolving the contradiction between maintaining high performance and reducing energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the rotor speed parameter adaptively based on operating conditions. By calculating power available from engine parameters and adjusting rotor speed accordingly, the system optimizes performance in high altitude and hot conditions without unnecessarily increasing energy consumption when full power is not required.
2Power
If rotor speed is increased to improve performance, then thrust and lift are enhanced, but mechanical stress on components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback from engine parameters, transmission torque, and rotor speed sensors to continuously monitor operating conditions. The governor receives this feedback and adjusts rotor speed to maintain optimal performance while preventing excessive mechanical stress by keeping operations within calculated safe limits based on real-time system state.
Solution Approach 2:
The system preemptively adjusts rotor speed to prevent excessive mechanical stress before it occurs. By calculating power available and predicted system limits, the governor proactively modulates rotor speed to stay within safe operating boundaries, cushioning against potential mechanical overload before it can damage components.
3Adaptability or versatility
If variable rotor speed control is implemented, then performance optimization is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The governor system performs multiple functions: it calculates power available from engine parameters, determines optimal rotor speed, modulates rotor speed, and ensures operation within safe limits. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional control system, the patent achieves performance optimization without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges collective pitch governing and engine governing into an integrated control approach. By combining these previously separate control functions into a unified governor system that simultaneously manages both pitch and power, the patent achieves comprehensive performance optimization while reducing the complexity of having separate independent control systems.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If rotor speed is reduced in quiet mode, then aircraft noise is reduced, but performance capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts rotor speed based on actual performance requirements and environmental conditions rather than using fixed speed settings. In quiet mode, the governor reduces rotor speed only to the extent necessary for noise reduction while maintaining adequate performance by adjusting other parameters (such as collective pitch) to compensate, achieving noise reduction without severe performance deterioration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes multiple parameters simultaneously (rotor speed, collective pitch, engine power) to achieve noise reduction while maintaining performance. By coordinating changes across these parameters rather than solely reducing rotor speed, the system can lower noise levels while minimizing the impact on performance capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The system (301; 701) for adaptively governing a speed of a rotor assembly in an aircraft can include a processor (303) configured for comparing receivable data to limit data in an algorithm (501) and subsequently making one or more commands (317) that affect the speed of the rotor assembly, the algorithm being configured for analyzing power available during operation of the aircraft. The method can include calculating a first power available by comparing an actual transmission torque (Qe) to a transmission torque limit (315); calculating a second power available by comparing an actual engine exhaust temperature (305) to an engine exhaust temperature limit (313); and comparing the first power available to the second power available.