Optimization design of high-efficiency and low-noise rotor layout for quad-tiltrotor aircraft

Xiayang ZHANG; Bin LUO; Xi CHEN; Tao YANG

doi:10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32183

ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA >

2025 , Vol. 46 >Issue S1: 732183 - 732183

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32183

Excellent Papers of the 2nd Aerospace Frontiers Conference/the 27th Annual Meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology

Optimization design of high-efficiency and low-noise rotor layout for quad-tiltrotor aircraft

Xiayang ZHANG ,
Bin LUO ,
Xi CHEN ,
Tao YANG

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National Key Laboratory of Helicopter Aeromechanics，College of Aerospace Engineering，Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics，Nanjing 210016，China

E-mail： zhangxiayang@nuaa.edu.cn

Received date: 2025-02-14

Revised date: 2025-02-28

Accepted date: 2025-05-15

Online published: 2025-05-27

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China(12472237);Aeronautical Science Foundation of China(2024Z010052002);Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST(2022QNRC001);National Key Laboratory Foundation of China(61422202201);Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions

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Abstract

Quad-tiltrotor aircraft experience complex unsteady noise characteristics due to the presence of multi-vortex and multi-component aerodynamic interference among various components during typical flight modes. To obtain the high-efficiency and low-noise rotor shape combined with helicopter mode and fixed-wing mode， the computation methods of rotor aerodynamic and noise considering the aerodynamic environment of the whole aircraft are established. The sensitivity analysis of the tip shape parameters to the aerodynamic and noise characteristics of the rotor is carried out. Based on the improved Latin hypercube sampling method and the genetic algorithm， the high-efficiency/low-noise shape design optimization process of the forward and rear rotors is established. A set of high-efficiency and low-noise forward and rear rotor shapes are obtained and are further compared with the reference ones. The results show that the aerodynamic and noise characteristics of the rotor are sensitive to the blade tip shape， which can severely affect the hover efficiency and cruise efficiency. After optimization， the hover efficiencies of the forward rotor and the rear rotor are increased by 1.5 % and 1.0 %， and the noise pressure level is reduced by 1.8 dB. In the fixed-wing mode， the cruise efficiencies of the forward rotor and the rear rotor are increased by 10.1 % and 9.0 %， and the noise pressure level is reduced by 2.2 dB.

Key words： quad-tiltrotor aircraft; aerodynamic interference; aerodynamic performance; noise characteristics; optimization design

Cite this article

Xiayang ZHANG , Bin LUO , Xi CHEN , Tao YANG . Optimization design of high-efficiency and low-noise rotor layout for quad-tiltrotor aircraft[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2025 , 46(S1) : 732183 -732183 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32183

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