Experimental investigation of rotor-wing interaction at low disk loading and low Reynolds number

Hover performance and prediction of tiltrotor-like vehicles lack experimental data and computational models for rotor-wing interactions at low disk loading and low Reynolds number. An experimental investigation of rotor-wing interaction in hover near the micro-air-vehicle (MAV) scale (Re < 100,000 and thrust < 5 N) is conducted to determine how changes in rotor-wing geometry influence rotor-wing interaction. The test setup consists of counter-rotating rotors and a flat plate representing a generic wing. The vertical distance between the rotors and wing, the spanwise distance between the rotors and the blade pitch angle are considered to assess the rotor-on-wing and rotor-on-rotor effects. Rotor thrust and torque, wing download force and wing surface pressures are collected. These results will be used to compare with computational models.