In-flight measurements of aircraft propeller deformation by means of an autarkic fast rotating imaging system

Abstract

The non-intrusive in-flight measurement of the deformation and pitch of the aircraft propeller is a demanding task. The idea of an imaging system integrated and rotating with the aircraft propeller has been presented on the 30^th International Congress on High-Speed Imaging and Photonics (ICHSIP30) in 2012. Since then this system has been constructed and tested in the laboratory as well as on the real aircraft. In this paper we outline the principle of Image Pattern Correlation Technique (IPCT) based on Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and describe the construction of a dedicated autarkic 3D camera system placed on the investigated propeller and rotating at its full speed. Furthermore, the results of the first ground and in-flight tests are shown and discussed. This development has been found by the European Commission within the 7^th frame project AIM² (contract no. 266107).