DEMOS · DEsign and Manufacturing of a pitch-Oscillating System for gurney flap testing

The development of new innovative rotorcraft vehicles requires strong investments in the field of R&D adopting advanced numerical tools and innovative experimental methodologies.The dynamic stall phenomenon has been the subject of considerable interest in helicopter and aircraft manoeuvrability.Preliminary results showed that the Active Gurney flap can delay the dynamic stall phenomenon, but further investigations are necessary for a well characterization of these devices.Within this context, in the last twenty years, several facilities have been realized or modified to test oscillating pitching blade/airfoil.However, these facilities are able to cover only a limited 3D “Mach -Reynolds -Reduced frequency” operative envelope respect to the typical flight conditions of helicopters.The main innovative aspects of the present call regards, in fact, the wide operative envelope in terms of reduced frequency-Mach number and the integration of such system with an active Gurney flap system installed on the model reproducing several motion laws. Our proposal concerns the design and manufacturing of a 2D airfoil, of an active gurney flap system and of a pitch-oscillating system to perform tests in a large wind tunnel.""