LIFTING LINE PREDICTIONS FOR A SWEPT TIP ROTOR BLADE

Four lifting line analyses have been used to calculate the airloads and blade stresses on a swept tip helicopter rotor tested in flight. The work was performed by organisations in Australia, England, France and the United States under collaborative work agreements. The capability of the analyses is assessed over a range of advance ratios from low speed flight, where the wake modelling is important, to high speed conditions, where the representation of the blade dynamics and unsteady aerodynamic effects are the dominant features.