OVERVIEW OF THE COMMON DLR/ONERA PROJECT "ACTIVE TWIST BLADE" (ATB)

Abstract

Individual blade control (IBC) as well as higher harmonic control (HHC) for helicopter rotors promises to be a method to increase flight performance and to reduce vibration and noise. For those controls, an additional twist actuation of the blade is needed. Within the DLR/ONERA partnership, a project called “Active Twist Blade” (ATB) was established on a Joint Team in which two concepts for active twist blades are investigated. This paper presents an overview of the project as well as a description of the two concepts including first demonstrators to prove the feasibility of those activation mechanism.