Development of an improved aeroelastic model for the investigation of vibration reduction in helicopter rotors using trailing edge flaps

This dissertation describes the development of an aeroelastic model of a helicopter rotor incorporating partial span trailing edge flaps on the blade and its application to the investigation of vibration reduction using active control.;A new two-dimensional unsteady aerodynamic model for an airfoil/flap combination is described that includes compressibility and unsteady freestream effects. This new aerodynamic model is based on a rational function approximation (RFA) approach. In this approach, oscillatory response data obtained for a selected set of generalized airfoil and flap motions is used to generate an approximate aerodynamic transfer function which can be transformed to the time domain to form a state space aerodynamic model. In this dissertation, a method is described for adapting the conventional RFA approach to include unsteady freestream effects. Excellent agreement is demonstrated between the response of the new aerodynamic model and an exact incompressible solution to the unsteady freestream case. This model provides a complete description of the unsteady flap hinge moments due to airfoil and flap motion, allowing a complete and accurate characterization of control actuation requirements.;The structural model utilizes an elastic blade model which includes fully coupled flap-lag-torsional dynamics and includes the effects of moderate deflections. The aeroelastic model is formulated in the time domain, with the coupled trim/response solution obtained using direct numerical integration in combination with autopilot type controller. A conventional higher harmonic control approach is used to investigate vibration reduction.;Vibration control studies are performed which compare results using the new aerodynamic model and incompressible quasisteady Theodorsen aerodynamics. Significant differences were observed in the required deflections and control moments, indicating that compressibility and unsteady effects are necessary to properly characterize the actuation requirements of the ACF. Control studies are also performed using servo flap, plain flap, and dual flap configurations. Last, changes in blade stability associated with a free-flap failure model is investigated, and a conceptual design of a flap actuation mechanism employing a piezoelectric mesoscale actuator is presented.