Model Reduction and Uncertainties with Helicopters

Today, simulation tools are an integral part of the development of technical products. They enable statements to be made about the properties of the products to be developed before they even exist in reality. The more realistic the simulations are, the more they can help to avoid expensive corrective measures in later product development phases. The goal of this project is, therefore, to improve simulation-based predictions of various characteristics of rotorcrafts.

One focus is the improved prediction of cabin vibrations, which have a significant impact on comfort. The vibrations can be induced by the introduction of aerodynamic alternating loads with the blade frequency, but also by low-frequency structural vibrations during forward flight. The latter can sometimes occur very late in flight tests and thus lead to expensive corrective actions. Therefore, the influence of structural dynamic parameter scattering shall be investigated in order to identify such oscillation phenomena already in simulations.

In this context, model order reduction is an important tool to enable efficient system evaluations. Particular challenges related to helicopters are the consideration of high-frequency modes of the rotor mast, the distribution of aerodynamic loads over large parts of the surface, and the dependence of the system on uncertain parameters. The developed methods will also be investigated for their applicability to new configurations of rotorcraft from the field of Urban Air Mobility.

The software packages MatMorembs and FAMOUS are used for the programming implementation.