Components parameterization in helicopter conceptual design

To satisfy the requirement of rapid modeling in helicopter conceptual design, a method was brought forward for classifying helicopter components on the basis of object-oriented technique, and a computer aided helicopter conceptual design system was developed. By applying NURBS (non-uniform rational B-spline) surfaces and feature-based components modeling technique, parametric modeling of helicopter concepts belonging to different types was realized. In particular, by taking the design parameters into account, the parameters describing rotor blade, blade tip, rotor hub and fairing were proposed, and ducted tail rotor was modeled by breaking it into several continual segments. Two design concepts generated with this system were finally presented as examples to validate the convenience and effectiveness of the proposed methods, which formed the bases for such further work as concept performance analysis and optimization.