VTOL Rotor Mounting Linkage for Lower Actuator Weight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tilt mechanisms in vertical take-off and landing aircraft are bulky, heavy, and difficult to access for inspection and maintenance, due to the need for strong actuation and positional accuracy during high load operating regimes.
Innovation Solution
A rotor mounting assembly with a multi-link mechanism driven by a rotary actuator, providing a mechanical advantage, reduced power requirements, and compact design, allowing easy access for maintenance through a created opening when in the vertical thrust orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Force
If a strong actuator is used to actuate the propulsion system during high load operating regimes, then the propulsion system can provide sufficient thrust, but the actuator becomes bulkier and heavier
Solution Approach 1:
A tilt mechanism serves as an intermediary between the actuator and the propulsion system. This mechanism provides mechanical advantage through linkages and levers, allowing a smaller, lighter actuator to generate the necessary thrust force by amplifying its output through mechanical leverage rather than requiring the actuator itself to be oversized for direct thrust generation.
Solution Approach 2:
The actuation system is segmented into separate functional components: the actuator, the tilt mechanism, and the propulsion system mounting. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the actuator for compactness and low weight, while the tilt mechanism handles the force amplification and transmission to the propulsion system.
2Reliability
If a strong and stiff tilt mechanism is used to ensure positional accuracy during vertical flight, then the propulsion system maintains accurate positioning, but the mechanism becomes bulkier and harder to access for maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The tilt mechanism is designed with dynamic characteristics that provide high stiffness and positional accuracy during vertical flight operations, while incorporating movable components and linkages that allow the entire assembly to be accessed and maintained through openings in the airframe structure when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The tilt mechanism is nested within or integrated with the airframe structure, allowing it to be housed within available space while providing access pathways through openings in the fuselage or wing structure. This nesting approach maintains the mechanical stiffness required for positional accuracy while enabling maintenance access through strategically placed openings.
3Ease of repair
If a compact tilt mechanism is used to reduce weight and improve accessibility, then the mechanism is easier to maintain, but it may not provide sufficient mechanical advantage for high load operating regimes
Solution Approach 1:
The force transmission is segmented into multiple stages through the tilt mechanism linkages, allowing each segment to contribute to the overall mechanical advantage. This multi-stage force transmission enables a compact mechanism to generate sufficient actuation force for high load conditions by compounding the mechanical advantage across multiple linkage elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The tilt mechanism employs curved or articulated linkages that provide mechanical advantage through geometric relationships. These curved paths allow the mechanism to maintain compact dimensions while generating sufficient force through the mechanical advantage provided by the geometry of the linkages during rotation and movement.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution reduces the weight and power consumption of the actuator while ensuring positional accuracy and ease of maintenance, by utilizing a multi-link assembly that forms a four-bar linkage for balanced mechanical advantage and stiffness.
Implementation Method 1
The multi-link assembly is configured to provide a mechanical advantage to the rotary actuator such that the rotary actuator can be smaller, lighter, and draw less power than a rotary actuator located at the joint rotational axis
Data Source
AI summary
A rotor mounting assembly for a vertical take-off and landing aircraft includes a boom configured for mounting to a wing of the aircraft; a mount for mounting a rotor assembly, the mount connected to the boom at a joint and tiltable about the joint from a forward thrust orientation in which the rotor assembly can provide forward thrust for forward flight to a vertical thrust orientation in which the rotor assembly can provide vertical thrust for vertical take-off and landing and hover; a multi-link assembly extending from the boom to the mount; and a rotary actuator for actuating the multi-link assembly to control tilting of the mount.