Performance Optimization of the NASA Large Civil Tiltrotor

Abstract

Performance optimization and analysis is presented for a Large Civil Tiltrotor (LCTR2). Intended to replace regional airliners over medium ranges, LCTR2 is designed to carry 90 passengers for 1000 nm or greater, with performance of 300 knots at 28,000-ft altitude. Design features include low hover and cruise tip speeds of 650 and 350 ft/sec, respectively. The paper is primarily concerned with rotor aerodynamic optimization for performance, including rotor/wing interference calculations. Twist, taper, and solidity optimizations are presented, along with an analysis of flight performance in turns. Hover/cruise performance tradeoffs for different cruise tip speeds are also presented. A free-wake model was used for all rotor analyses, computed by the CAMRAD II comprehensive analysis code. Aircraft design was done with the RC sizing code, developed by the U. S. Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA508826

Entities

People

  • C. W. Acree Jr.
  • Hyeonsoo Yeo
  • Jeffrey D. Sinsay

Organizations

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerodynamic Configurations
  • Aircraft Design
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircrafts
  • Airfoils
  • Airframes
  • Collision Avoidance
  • Dynamic Pressure
  • Figure Of Merit
  • Helicopters
  • Mach Number
  • Optimization
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Tilt Rotor Aircraft
  • Tilt Wing Aircraft
  • Vehicles
  • Vertical Takeoff Aircraft

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Aerospace Engineering