Experimental research of active vibration and noise control of electrically controlled rotor

Electrically Controlled Rotor (ECR), also called as swashplateless rotor, applies blade pitch inputs via trailing-edge flaps system instead of traditional swashplate mechanism. In addition to primary control, rotor vibration reduction and noise alleviation are also achievable via applying higher harmonic control inputs with the trailing-edge flaps. In this paper, the feasibility of ECR to reduce vibration and noise actively is verified experimentally. Firstly, the test scheme of ECR active vibration and noise control is proposed, and the ECR test platform is modified according to the test scheme. Then, an adaptive control algorithm based on Kalman filter is developed. Lastly, hover and wind tunnel tests is performed to verify the feasibility of ECR active vibration and noise control. The results demonstrate that the ECR are effective for reducing rotor vibration and noise simultaneously. In the hover condition, the ECR can reduce the in-plane hub vibration by 42% and the in-plane noise by 4 dB. In wind tunnel condition, ECR can reduce the hub vibration by 75% and the BVI noise by 3 dB.