Anatomy, Modelling and Prediction of Aeroservoelastic Rotorcraft-Pilot-Coupling

Research activity and results obtained within the European project ARISTOTEL (2010-2013) are presented. It deals with anatomy, modelling and prediction of Rotorcraft Pilot Coupling (RPC) phenomena, which are a really broad and wide category of events, ranging from discomfort to catastrophic crash. The main top- ics concerning piloted helicopter simulation that are of interest for designers are examined. These include comprehensive rotorcraft modelling suited for Pilot Assisted Oscillations (PAO) prediction, modelling of pilot biodynamics behaviour in the PAO frequency range of interest, definition and application of criteria for detec- tion of RPC instabilities of aeroservoelastic nature. The numerical investigation considers Bo105 and IAR330 Puma helicopter models, as representatives of two different rotorcraft categories (small-size and medium-size helicopters, respectively). Factors affecting aeroservoelastic RPC prediction are investigated (like, for instance, pilot modelling, system modelling, number of controls on which the pilot exerts forces, control chain gearing ratios), with the aim of defining design guidelines for prevention of adverse RPCs occurrence