THE EFFECT OF ROTOR DISC CLEARANCE ON THE LIFT PERFORMANCE OF CONTRA-ROTATING ROTOR BLADES

Ziad Bin Abdul Awal, Mohd. Shariff bin Ammoo, Nur Syafiqah Binti Jamaluddin

Abstract: Contra-rotating rotor blade is a system that can deliver poised torque condition for any rotorcraft without the manifestation of tail rotor contrivance. This system not only aids to sustain the stability of the aircraft, but also surges the aircraft’s overall efficiency discrete to the conventional single rotor system. Contra-rotation system is capable of operating in reduced size and henceforth is effusively researched and applied to the unmanned micro aerial vehicle (MAV) technology. This study intended to reconnoiter the effect of varying the axial spacing between the forward rotor and the aft rotor of an archetypal contra-rotating rotor blade system. The quantitative data has espoused that the variation of axial spacing between the forward and aft rotor affected the total efficiency of the contra-rotating rotor blade system. Furthermore, at larger spacing, the effects were more substantial contributing adversely to the overall efficiency of the system.

Keywords: Contra-rotating system, Rotor disc clearance, Micro aerial vehicle (MAV), Total efficiency.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0305137