Flexible Multibody Model of a Complete Tiltrotor for Aeroservoelastic Analysis

Abstract

This work presents a numerical validation and capability demonstration of the solver MBDyn when applied to a complex tiltrotor model. The Bell XV-15 tiltrotor equipped with Advanced Technology Blades (ATB) is chosen since a considerable amount of data is publicly available. The multibody modeling of each sub-component, i.e. the rotor, blades, yoke, drive system, and the airframe is illustrated and validated considering experimental and numerical results. This work is a first step towards further, more complex analyses, such as whirl-flutter stability assessment, transient maneuvers, and pilot-vehicle interaction.