Experimental Measurement of a Blade Section With a Continuous Trailing-Edge Flap

This paper presents the experimental bench-test and wind-tunnel-test results for a prototype rotor-blade section with an integrated Continuous Trailing-Edge Flap (CTEF). The CTEF is a monolithic active blade design that uses piezoelectric-fiber actuators to deform the trailing edge of an airfoil, and thereby induce changes in lift and pitching moment. Based on prior analytical modeling, a CTEF test article was manufactured and subjected to bench testing and low-speed wind-tunnel testing. Bench testing was conducted over a range of actuation frequencies and voltages, and the deformation of the airfoil section was measured. In the wind tunnel, deflection under aerodynamic load and the aerodynamic performance were measured. Measured performance was slightly less than predicted, but the results demonstrate that the CTEF concept does perform as expected.