Individual Blade Control Approach for Active Vibration Suppression of a Lift-Offset Coaxial Rotorcraft

This study explores the best vibration reduction using an individual blade control (IBC) actuation scheme for a lift-offset coaxial helicopter in high-speed flight. The rotorcraft dynamics analysis model consists of coaxial, three-bladed counter-rotating rotors and a finite element fuselage stick model constructed based on the measured data of the XH-59A helicopter. The XH-59A helicopter is well-known for its severe vibration level encountered during the flight (over 0.5g), leading to the cancellation of the development program. A special focus is given to assessing the accuracy and efficiency of the integrated rotor–body vibration predictions evaluated between the one-way and two-way coupling methods in reference to the flight data of the vehicle. The two-way rotor–body coupled results show excellent correlations with the test data for rotor blade loads and airframe vibrations. The best actuation scenarios are then sought for the minimum vibration at the rotor hub and the pilot seat. The IBC pitch actuation effectively reduces the vibrations at both locations of the rotorcraft. Specifically, a multiple-harmonic IBC actuation enables to suppress the pilot seat vibration by 93% compared to the uncontrolled case, achieving a significantly reduced vibration level (below 0.05g).