Modular Multi-Platform Rotor Hub Fatigue Test Rig

To fulfill our overall SBIR objectives to (a) develop a compact way to introduce the blade centrifugal load with a mechanism to generate accurate blade shear/bending and torsion, and (b) design a modular test rig with a flexibility of repositioning actuators along the blade axis for multiple platform applications, TDA/NRL team has designed a novel Modular Multi-Platform Rotor Hub Fatigue Test Rig using 6-axis hexapod actuator systems in Phase I. Two complete test rigs which share the same test rig frame have been developed for two very different rotor heads of UH-60 and AH-1Z helicopters to demonstrate the modularity of the designed test rig. Advanced machine vision technology using DSI methods was employed in the test rig design to collect high fidelity structural strain and displacement data. To demonstrate such an innovative test rig concept, we are proposing to build a scaled rotor hub test rig for a selected platform, and conduct simulated tests in program Phase II, which will establish a concrete theoretical basis and experience for eventual design of the full scale MMP Rotor Hub Fatigue Test Rig.