HELICOPTER

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by rotors.
This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly
forward, backward, and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in
congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft and many forms
of VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft cannot perform.
Though earlier designs used more than one main rotor, it is the single main rotor
with anti-torque tail rotor configuration that has become the most common
helicopter configuration. Tandem rotor helicopters are also in widespread use due
to their greater payload capacity. Coaxial helicopters, tiltrotor aircraft,
and compound helicopters are all flying today. Quadcopter helicopters pioneered
as early as 1907 in France, and other types of multicopter have been developed for
specialized applications such as unmanned drones.

DESIGN FEATURES
Rotor system
The rotor system, or more simply rotor, is the rotating part of a helicopter that
generates lift. A rotor system may be mounted horizontally, as main rotors are,
providing lift vertically, or it may be mounted vertically, such as a tail rotor, to
provide horizontal thrust to counteract torque from the main rotors. The rotor
consists of a mast, hub and rotor blades.
The mast is a cylindrical metal shaft that extends upwards from the transmission.
At the top of the mast is the attachment point for the rotor blades called the hub.
The rotor blades are attached to the hub. Main rotor systems are classified
according to how the rotor blades are attached and move relative to the hub. There
are three basic types: hinge less, fully articulated, and teetering; although some
modern rotor systems use a combination of these.
ANTI-TORQUE FEATURES
Some helicopters use other anti-torque controls instead of the tail rotor, such as
the ducted fan and NOTAR. NOTAR provides anti-torque similar to the way a wing
develops lift.
The use of two or more horizontal rotors turning in opposite directions is another
configuration used to counteract the effects of torque on the aircraft without
relying on an anti-torque tail rotor. This allows the power normally required to
drive the tail rotor to be applied to the main rotors, increasing the aircraft's lifting
capacity. Primarily, there are three common configurations that use the counter-
rotating effect to benefit the rotorcraft:
 Tandem rotors are two counter-rotating rotors with one mounted behind the
other.
 Coaxial rotors are two counter-rotating rotors mounted one above the other
with the same axis.
 Intermeshing rotors are two counter-rotating rotors mounted close to each
other at a sufficient angle to let the rotors intermesh over the top of the aircraft
without colliding.
 Transverse rotors are pair of counter-rotating rotors mounted at each end
of the wings or outrigger structures. They are found on tilt rotors and some
earlier helicopters.
 Quad copters are mainly model aircraft.
 ENGINES
The number, size and type of engine(s) used on a helicopter determines the size,
function and capability of that helicopter design.
Turbo shafts are also more reliable than piston engines, especially when producing
the sustained high levels of power required by a helicopter. The turbo shaft engine
was able to be scaled to the size of the helicopter being designed, so that all but
the lightest of helicopter models are powered by turbine engines today.
Special jet engines developed to drive the rotor from the rotor tips are referred to
as tip jets. Tip jets powered by a remote compressor are referred to as cold tip jets,
while those powered by combustion exhaust are referred to as hot tip jets.
Some radio-controlled helicopters and smaller, helicopter-type unmanned aerial
vehicles, use electric motors. Radio-controlled helicopters may also have
piston that use fuels other than gasoline, such as nitro methane. Some turbine
engines commonly used in helicopters can also use biodiesel instead of jet fuel.
HOW HELICOPTERS WORK
Helicopters are highly maneuverable aircraft that fly not by forcing air over a pair
of fixed wings, like an airplane, but by spinning a rotor blade at high speed. Today,
typical uses for helicopters include military transportation and air-sea rescue.

HOW DOES A HELICOPTER STAY IN THE AIR?

Rotor blades work like spinning wings. Helicopters fly upward against the force of
gravity by using their rotors to throw air down beneath them. Like the wings of
an airplane, each blade in a helicopter's rotor is an airfoil (aero foil): a wing with a
curved top and a straight bottom. As the blade spins around, it forces air over its
curved upper surface and then throws it down behind it toward the ground,
producing an upward force called lift.
The pitch of the blades (the angle they make to the incoming airflow) controls the
amount of lift. During takeoff, the pilot increases the pitch with a control called
the collective pitch stick. The lift produced is greater than the helicopter's weight
and this makes the helicopter rise upward. If the lift exactly equals the weight, the
helicopter hovers. If the weight is greater than the lift, the helicopter descends to
Earth.

Normally the lift produced by the rotor aims straight upward, but the pilot can tilt
the rotor blades with a device called the cyclic pitch control to make the helicopter
fly in a particular direction. Although most of the lift force still points upward, some
of it now also points to the front, back, left, or right, tilting the entire helicopter
and pushing it in that direction.
The pilot's movements are transmitted from the cockpit to the rotor blades by two
disks called the upper and lower swash plates. The lower swash plate does not
rotate, but can tilt or move up and down. The upper swash plate spins with the
rotors on ball bearings on top of the lower swash plate. When the pilot pushes the
controls, the lower swash plate nudges the upper swash plate, and the blades are
tilted in turn by a system of control rods.
HOW HELICOPTER ROTORS WORK
Everyone knows a helicopter's rotors rotate (that's why they're called rotors). But
the really clever thing about them is that the blades can swivel back and forth as
they turn around—and that requires some amazingly intricate machinery.
1. The blades are shaped like airfoils (airplane wings with a curved profile) so they
generate lift as they spin.
2. Each blade can swivel as it spins.
3. Vertical rods push the blades up and down, making them swivel as they rotate.
4. A central axle connected to the engine makes the entire blade assembly rotate.
5. The cap above the rotors is missile proof to protect against enemy attacks.
6. There are two turbo-shaft jet engines, one on either side of the rotors. If one
engine fails, there should still be enough power from the other engine to land
the helicopter safely.
WHY DO HELICOPTERS NEED A TAIL ROTOR?
According to the laws of motion, any force (or action) produces an equal force
(or reaction) in the opposite direction. This means the torque (rotating force)
produced by a helicopter's blades tends to turn the fuselage (the main
helicopter body) in the opposite direction. All helicopters have either a second
propeller or another device to counteract the torque of the main blade. In most
helicopters, a tail rotor balances the torque by pushing in the opposite direction
to the main rotor.
Some helicopters have two rotors mounted on the same shaft, which turn in
opposite directions (counter-rotating) to cancel the torque. Others (notably the
large military Chinook helicopters) have a rotor at the front and a rotor at the
back and cancel the torque by turning in opposite directions. Tail rotors solve
one problem but can cause others. Noisy and dangerous to passengers, the tail
rotor of a helicopter is also highly susceptible to damage from passing birds or
debris. This is a big problem, because a helicopter with a damaged tail rotor is
dangerously uncontrollable.
NOTAR helicopters have a giant fan inside the fuselage that sucks in air just
behind the cockpit and blows it out again through a side hole near the tail. This
produces the same sideways force as a tail rotor, but is quieter and safer.
CONTROLLING A HELICOPTER
Flying a helicopter requires constant concentration by the pilot and a near-
continuous flow of minute control corrections.
A conventional helicopter has its main rotor above the fuselage, just aft of the
cockpit area, consisting of 2 or more rotor blades extending out from a central rotor
head, or hub, assembly.
A primary component is the swash plate located at the base of the rotor head. This
swash plate consists of one non-revolving disc and one revolving disc mounted
directly on top. The swash plate is connected to the cockpit control stick and lever
and can be made to tilt in any direction, according to the cyclic stick movement
made by the pilot, or moved up and down according to the collective lever
movement.

THE BASICS OF PITCH ANGLE

Each rotor blade has an airfoil profile just like that of an airplane wing, and as the
blades rotate through the air they generate lift in exactly the same way as an
airplane wing does .
The amount of lift generated is determined by the pitch angle of each rotor blade
as it moves through the air. Pitch angle is known as the Angle of Attack when the
rotors are in motion, as shown below:

COLLECTIVE PITCH CONTROL

The collective control is made by moving a lever that rises up from the cockpit floor
to the left of the pilot's seat, which in turn raises or lowers the swash plate on the
main rotor shaft, without tilting it.
This lever only moves up and down and corresponds directly to the desired
movement of the helicopter; lifting the lever will result in the helicopter rising while
lowering it will cause the helicopter to sink. At the end of the collective lever is
the throttle control, explained further down the page.
As the swash plate rises or falls in response to the collective lever movement made
by the pilot, so it changes the pitch of all rotor blades at the same time and to the
same degree. Because all blades are changing pitch together, or 'collectively', the
change in lift remains constant throughout every full rotation of the blades.
Therefore, there is no tendency for the helicopter to change its existing direction
other than straight up or down.
 CYCLIC PITCH CONTROL
The cyclic control is made by moving the control stick that rises up from the
cockpit floor between the pilot's knees, and can be moved in all directions other
than up and down.
Like the collective control, these cyclic stick movements correspond to the
directional movement of the helicopter; moving the cyclic stick forward makes
the helicopter fly forwards while bringing the stick back slows the helicopter and
even makes it fly backwards. Moving the stick to the left or right makes the
helicopter roll in these directions.
The cyclic control works by tilting the swash plate and increasing the pitch angle
of a rotor blade at a given point in the rotation, while decreasing the angle when
the blade has moved through 180 degrees around the rotor disc.
As the pitch angle changes, so the lift generated by each blade changes and as a
result the helicopter becomes 'unbalanced' and so tips towards whichever side is
experiencing the lesser amount of lift.
As the stick is leaned over in any direction, so the angle of the plate changes very
slightly. This change of angle corresponds directly to what is happening to the
rotor disc at the same time i.e. the side of the plate that is higher represents the
side of the rotor disc generating more lift.
 HOVERCRAFT
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is a craft capable of
travelling over land, water, mud or ice and other surfaces. Hovercraft are hybrid
vessels operated by a pilot as an aircraft rather than a captain as a marine vessel.
Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull that is
slightly above atmospheric pressure.
The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower
pressure ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the
running surface. For stability reasons, the air is typically blown through slots or
holes around the outside of a disk or oval shaped platform, giving most hovercraft
a characteristic rounded-rectangle shape. Typically this cushion is contained within
a flexible "skirt", which allows the vehicle to travel over small obstructions without
damage.

INTRODUCTION
A hovercraft is a vehicle that glides over a smooth surface by hovering upon an air
cushion. Because of this, a hovercraft is also called an Air-Cushion Vehicle, or ACV.
How is the air cushion made? The hovercraft creates vents or currents of slow-
moving, low-pressure air that are pushed downward against the surface below the
hovercraft. Modern ACVs often have propellers on top that create the air currents.
These currents are pushed beneath the vehicle with the use of fans. Surrounding
the base of the ACV is a flexible skirt, also called the curtain, which traps the air
currents, keeping them underneath the hovercraft. These trapped air currents can
create an air cushion on any smooth surface, land or water! Since a hovercraft can
travel upon the surface of water, it is also called an amphibious vehicle.

1) propellers, 2) air currents, 3) fan, and 4) flexible skirt.

DESIGN
Hovercraft can be powered by one or more engines. Small craft usually have one
engine with the drive split through a gearbox. On vehicles with several engines, one
usually drives the fan, which is responsible for lifting the vehicle by forcing high
pressure air under the craft. The air inflates the "skirt" under the vehicle, causing it
to rise above the surface. Additional engines provide thrust in order to propel the
craft.
Some hovercraft use ducting to allow one engine to perform both tasks by directing
some of the air to the skirt, the rest of the air passing out of the back to push the
craft forward.
 WORKING OF A HOVERCRAFT
A hovercraft travels over land and water on a cushion or bubble of low-pressure
air. A hovercraft has one or more blowers that blow air underneath the craft, which
is contained by a skirt. The skirt that is around the perimeter of the hovercraft
performs an extremely important function in containing the air cushion.
By using a skirt, the amount of engine power required to lift the craft is considerably
reduced and as an added benefit, extra hull surface clearance is obtained. The skirt
is a long strip of material that is mounted onto the underside of the craft. When
the skirt is inflated, it lifts the hovercraft. The escaping air coming from where the
skirt touches the ground is what creates a friction-less cushion of air. Because the
hovercraft has practically no friction, it takes little force to move the craft.
 HOW DOES THE AIR CUSHION BENEATH THE HOVERCRAFT
ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO GLIDE TO FREELY?
The key to the ease of movement is reducing friction. A simple way to think of
friction is to think about how things rub together. It is easier to rollerblade on a
smooth sidewalk than a gravel path because the sidewalk has less friction. The
wheels of the rollerblade do not rub as much against the sidewalk as they do all
the pieces of gravel on the path. Similarly, the air cushion beneath the hovercraft
greatly reduces the friction of the vehicle, allowing it to glide freely upon the land
or water below.
 ASSIGNMENT
ON
HELICOPTERS AND HOVERCRAFTS

Submitted To:
Mr. Mohit Shrivastava

SUBMITTED BY:
TUSHAR JOSHI
Id. 43352
ME3

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, PANTNAGAR

 ASSIGNMENT
ON
HELICOPTERS AND HOVERCRAFTS

Submitted To:
Mr. Mohit Shrivastava

SUBMITTED BY:
HARVEER KUMAR
Id. 43325
ME2

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, PANTNAGAR