AIRFOIL DESIGN, TEST, AND EVALUATION FOR THE V-22 TILT ROTOR VEHICLE

An extensive airfoil design, analysis, test, and evaluation effort to develop new rotor and wing airfoils for the V-22 tilt rotor vehicle has been conducted. State-of-the-art analysis and design computer programs were used to produce airfoils designed to meet specific aerodynamic and geometric design goals and constraints on the wing section and four radial stations on the blade. Two-dimensional, large-scale rotor and airframe aerodynamic wind tunnel tests were conducted on these new sections. The test results confirm that the new airfoils satisfy the design goals and provide significant improvements in the aerodynamic characteristics at tilt rotor flight conditions.