Practical Composite Rotor Blade and Wing Structural Design Tool for Aeromechanical Assessments in Conceptual Design

An integrated design and analysis environment supporting the engineering of rotorcraft blades and wings is proposed which will facilitate the assessment of rotorcraft aeromechanics issues at early design stages. The environment will employ a 3D feature-based design environment with an easy-to-use graphical interface that will allow rapid configuration of conceptual designs and automation of high-fidelity analysis models. It will support the parametric design of rotor blade and wing geometry using isotropic and composite materials. Rotor blade cross-section properties will be computed from the design geometry and material descriptions for automating the aeromechanical analyses. It will leverage current design and analyses tools that will be customized and enhanced to facilitate the rapid engineering of rotorcraft. The high-fidelity integrated analysis capabilities coupled to the easy-to-use interactive design environment will facilitate rapid assessment of rotorcraft configurations and leads to optimum configurations reducing engineering time and costs in progressing to the detailed design stages. Conceptual designs can be easily configured and high-fidelity analysis models can be automated to support trade studies and optimization of rotorcraft designs. The ability to integrate the design and multi-disciplinary analysis processes within an easy-to-use environment will provide key functionality to accelerate and improve future rotorcraft engineering.