Rotor Assembly Ball Joint Thrust Vectoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current VTOL aircraft face challenges in efficiently transitioning between vertical takeoff and landing modes and forward flight modes, particularly due to downwash inefficiencies and control difficulties during hover, which affect their versatility and performance.
Innovation Solution
The development of a rotor assembly with a rotatable mast, ball joint, and tilt control assembly allows for a variable thrust vector by changing the rotational plane of the rotor hub relative to the mast axis, enabling efficient thrust vectoring and improved control during different flight modes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a tiltrotor aircraft uses a fixed wing with rotatable proprotors, then vertical lift capability is achieved, but downwash inefficiencies occur during vertical takeoff and landing due to interference from the fixed wing
Solution Approach 1:
The wing is made dynamically tiltable relative to the proprotors, allowing it to rotate between a horizontal position during forward flight and a vertical position during vertical takeoff and landing. This dynamic reconfiguration eliminates the fixed wing's interference with downwash during vertical operations, resolving the contradiction between achieving vertical lift capability and avoiding downwash inefficiencies.
2Productivity
If a tiltwing aircraft uses a rotatable wing with propellers, then vertical thrust efficiency is improved, but control difficulty increases during hover due to large surface area for crosswinds
Solution Approach 1:
The wing is made tiltable relative to the proprotors, enabling it to rotate between horizontal and vertical orientations. During vertical operations, the wing can be positioned vertically to improve thrust efficiency while reducing the horizontal surface area that would otherwise create crosswind sensitivity and control difficulty during hover.
Solution Approach 2:
The aircraft is divided into functionally independent segments: the proprotors provide thrust while the wing provides lift and can be independently tilted. This segmentation allows the wing to be optimized for vertical thrust during takeoff and landing while the proprotors handle propulsion, separating the functions to reduce control coupling and improve hover manageability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a rotor assembly uses a fixed rotational plane, then structural simplicity is maintained, but thrust vectoring capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor assembly incorporates a tiltable wing that can rotate relative to the proprotors, dynamically changing the rotational plane of the rotor hub. This dynamic adjustment enables variable thrust vectoring capability, allowing the thrust to be directed at different angles relative to the aircraft body, thereby achieving adaptability without requiring a completely complex reconfiguration system.
Data Source
AI summary
A rotor assembly for an aircraft is operable to generate a variable thrust vector. The rotor assembly includes a mast that is rotatable about a mast axis. A ball joint is positioned about and non rotatable with the mast. A tilt control assembly is positioned on and has a tilting degree of freedom relative to the ball joint. The tilt control assembly is non rotatable with the mast. A rotor hub is rotatably coupled to the tilt control assembly. The rotor hub is rotatable with the mast in a rotational plane and tiltable with the tilt control assembly. The rotor hub includes a plurality of grips each coupled to a rotor blade. Actuation of the tilt control assembly changes the rotational plane of the rotor hub relative to the mast axis, thereby generating the variable thrust vector.