Tiltrotor Vibration Reduction Through Higher Harmonic Control

The results of a joint NASA/Army/Bell Helicopter Textron wind-tunnel test to assess the potential of higher harmonic control (HHC) for reducing vibrations in tiltrotor aircraft operating in the airplane mode of flight, and to evaluate the effectiveness of a Bell-developed HHC algorithm called MAVSS (Multipoint Adaptive Vibration Suppression System) are presented. The test was conducted in the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel using an unpowered 1/5-scale semispan aeroelastic model of the V-22 which was modified to incorporate an HHC system employing both the rotor swashplate and the wing flaperon. The effectiveness of the swashplate and the flaperon acting either singly or in combination in reducing 1P and 3P wing vibrations over a wide range of tunnel airspeeds and rotor rotational speeds was demonstrated. The MAVSS algorithm was found to be robust to variations in tunnel airspeed and rotor speed, requiring only occasional on-line recalculations of the system transfer matrix. HHC had only a small (usually beneficial) effect on blade loads but increased pitch link loads by 25%. No degradation in aeroelastic stability was noted for any of the conditions tested.