Rotor Synchronized Imaging System for Rotorcraft Wind Tunnel Testing

The National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC)ĀNFAC is a unique facility that allows valuable testing of highly instrumented full-scale rotorcraft. Test time in this facility is limited and costly, so it is critical to efficiently obtain the desired data. Instrumentation mounted on the rotor hub can often fail due to vibration and centrifugal loads which leads to costly lost test time. Currently there is no way to detect the onset of failure in real time until a signal is lost.Ā In this program, Creare will develop a Synchronized Rotor Imaging System (SRIS) that will capture frozen motion images of the rotor hub in the NFAC.ĀĀ The SRIS software will allow the operator to view a live rotor image at any angle, and to view a history of images for a subset of angles.Ā We will also incorporate automated, real-time image processing to identify and flag any anomalies for an operator to review.Ā This will enable real-time monitoring of instrumentation health in the NFAC.