Helicopter dynamics is a field within aerospace engineering concerned with theoretical and practical aspects of helicopter flight. It comprises helicopter aerodynamics, stability, control, structural dynamics, vibration, and aeroelastic and aeromechanical stability.1
By studying the forces in helicopter flight, improved helicopter designs can be made, though due to the scale and speed of the dynamics, physical testing is non-trivial and expensive. In 2013, a combination of stereophotogrammetry and rigid-body correction in post processing was shown to be a valid tool for performing these studies, and the dynamics of a Robinson R44 helicopter were measured during hovering flight, to determine blade dynamics (e.g. harmonics) and the deflection profile.2
References
References
- Bramwell, A. R. S. (2001). Bramwell's helicopter dynamics (2nd ed.). Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ISBN 978-0-7506-5075-5.
- Lundstrom, Troy; Baqersad, Javad; Niezrecki, Christopher (2013). "Using High-Speed Stereophotogrammetry to Collect Operating Data on a Robinson R44 Helicopter". Special Topics in Structural Dynamics, Volume 6. Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series. Springer. pp. 401–410. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-6546-1_44. ISBN 978-1-4614-6545-4. Retrieved 18 January 2022.