Rotorcraft
Sikorsky eyes smoother ride with anti-vibration system
Helicopter flying could eventually be “jet smooth,” thanks to hub-mounted actuators that counter, at their source, vibratory loads stemming from blade mo

Helicopter flying could eventually be “jet smooth,” thanks to hub-mounted actuators that counter, at their source, vibratory loads stemming from blade movement asymmetry and blade-vortex interaction. Sikorsky has completed rig testing of a hub-mounted vibration-suppression system (HMVS) that could be in service in 2015, and the company plans to integrate the active system into all its helicopters.

Lord, which has teamed with Sikorsky and the U.S. Army’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate on the project, describes the dual-frequency HMVS as motorized imbalanced rotors. They rotate at the blade-pass frequency to create centrifugal forces.

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