Grant: Alliance Grants

Aerospace industry innovations targets reduction of fuel consumption and noise emission. Electrical power-by-wire enabled technology address these challenges yielding lighter designs, increased operation flexibility and cost reduction. With electric motors having variable rotational speed, constraints in design and optimization strategies for rotor and propellers can be released. In addition to conventional aircraft and rotorcraft, new concepts arise in the urban air mobility or autonomous air delivery markets that will respond to urban missions such as emergency medical service, traffic and safety monitoring, passenger transportation. Noise annoyance during manoeuvre and local community noise concerns around heliports have to be addressed early by manufacturers. This research project is intended to take on the challenge with the development of aerodynamic-aeroacoustic coupled optimization methods for the design of quieter rotor and propellers. The objective of the partnership with École de technologie supérieure de Montréal, McGill University, and Université de Sherbrooke and the Canadian industrial companies Bell Textron Canada and Optis Engineering is to develop a coupled aerodynamic-aeroacoustic optimization framework for an electrical distributed anti-torque (EDAT) system to equip future Bell helicopters produced in Canada. Seven research students will be committed to apply state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary optimization methodologies and fill knowledge gaps in aeroacoustics of rotating machines. Thanks to the high-fidelity simulations and experimental approaches that will be conducted on a single shrouded fan representative of the EDAT system, this research will provide accurate validation and calibration data for the noise predictions. With this initiative, the most advanced optimization technique will be coupled with fast and accurate aeroacoustic models in a unique manner. In addition to maintaining and improving the competitiveness of the Canadian Aerospace industry in a world-wide market, the highly qualified personnel involved in the proposed research project will be valuable assets for the Canadian industry: aware of communities noise annoyance and skilled to tackle it.