The application of active side arm controllers in helicopters

Eurocopter Deutschland (ECD) started simulation trials to investigate the particular problems of Side Arm Controllers (SAC) applied to helicopters. Two simulation trials have been performed. In the first trial, the handling characteristics of a 'passive' SAC and the basic requirements for the application of an 'active' SAC were evaluated in pilot-in-the-loop simulations, performing the tasks in a realistic scenario representing typical phases of a transport mission. The second simulation trial investigated the general control characteristics of the 'active' in comparison to the 'passive' control principle. A description of the SACs developed by ECD and the principle of the 'passive' and 'active' control concept is given, as well as specific ratings for the investigated dynamic and ergonomic parameters effecting SAC characteristics. The experimental arrangements, as well as the trials procedures of both simulation phases, are described and the results achieved are discussed emphasizing the advantages of the 'active' as opposed to the 'passive' SAC concept. This also includes the presentation of some critical aspects still to be improved and proposals to solve them

Fatigue life assessment of thin-walled welded joints under non-proportional load-time histories by the shear stress rate integral approach

Fatigue life tests under constant and variable amplitude loadings were performed on the tube-tube thin-walled welded specimens made of magnesium (AZ31 and AZ61) alloys. The tests included pure axial, pure torsional and combined in-phase and out-of-phase loadings with the load ratio "R ",?"R "? ? ?1. For the tests with variable amplitude loads a Gaußdistributed loading spectrum with LS ? 5?104 cycles was used. Since magnesium welds show a fatigue life reduction under out-of-phase loads, a stress-based method, which takes this behavior into account, is proposed. The out-of-phase loading results in rotating shear stress vectors in the section planes, which are not orthogonal to the surface. This fact is used in order to provide an out-of-phase measure of the load. This measure is computed as an area covered by the shear stress vectors in all planes over a certain time interval, its computation involves the shear stress and the shear stress rate vectors in the individual planes. Fatigue life evaluation for the variable amplitudes loadings is performed using the Palmgren-Miner linear damage accumulation, whereas the total damage of every cycle is split up into two components: the amplitude component and the out-of-phase component. In order to compute the two components a modification of the rainflow counting method, which keeps track of the time intervals, where the cycles occur, must be used. The proposed method also takes into account different slopes of the pure axial and the pure torsional Wöhler-line by means of a Wöhler-line interpolation for combined loadings.&nbsp

Fatigue Assessment of Nodular Cast Iron with Material Imperfections

For the design of thick-walled nodular cast iron components, fatigue assessment, especially in the context of local imperfections in the material, is a challenging task. Not only the cyclic material behavior of the sound baseline material, but also the cyclic behavior of materials with imperfections, such as shrinkages, dross and chunky graphite, needs to be considered during the design process of cast iron components. In addition to this, new materials, such as solid solution strengthened alloys, offer new possibilities in lightweight design, but need to be assessed concerning their fatigue strength and elastic-plastic material behavior. If a safe and reproducible fatigue assessment for any component cannot be performed and a secure usage is therefore not given, the cast components are generally rejected, leading to a loss of additional material, energy and money for recasting the component. In this context, four nodular cast iron materials are compared with reference to their cyclic material and fatigue behavior as well as their potential for a lightweight design, based on stress- and strain-controlled tests both for sound and defective material. However, to develop an optimal and individual fatigue design method for cast components with local material imperfections present, the component’s local fatigue strength needs to be combined with information from non-destructive testing (NDT), since a removal of specimens is generally not possible. For this purpose, as an example, a method is described that uses information from ultrasonic and X-ray analysis as well as the given fatigue strength of the baseline material to conduct a fatigue assessment of local shrinkages in nodular cast iron components. The method is based on the reproducible measurement of the local density by NDT and its correlation with the local fatigue notch factor, enabling a safe and local assessment of the allowable fatigue strength when shrinkages are present

Fatigue life assessment of thin-walled welded joints under non-proportional load-time histories by the shear stress rate integral approach

Fatigue life tests under constant and variable amplitude loadings were performed on the tube-tube thin-walled welded specimens made of magnesium (AZ31 and AZ61) alloys. The tests included pure axial, pure torsional and combined in-phase and out-of-phase loadings with the load ratio  RR " ", " " 1  . For the tests with variable amplitude loads a Gaußdistributed loading spectrum with S L 4 5 10  cycles was used. Since magnesium welds show a fatigue life reduction under out-of-phase loads, a stress-based method, which takes this behavior into account, is proposed. The out-of-phase loading results in rotating shear stress vectors in the section planes, which are not orthogonal to the surface. This fact is used in order to provide an out-of-phase measure of the load. This measure is computed as an area covered by the shear stress vectors in all planes over a certain time interval, its computation involves the shear stress and the shear stress rate vectors in the individual planes. Fatigue life evaluation for the variable amplitudes loadings is performed using the Palmgren-Miner linear damage accumulation, whereas the total damage of every cycle is split up into two components: the amplitude component and the out-of-phase component. In order to compute the two components a modification of the rainflow counting method, which keeps track of the time intervals, where the cycles occur, must be used. The proposed method also takes into account different slopes of the pure axial and the pure torsional Wöhler-line by means of a Wöhler-line interpolation for combined loading