Helicopter Aerodynamics

This book is developed to serve as a concise text for a course on helicopter aerodynamics at the introductory level. It introduces to the rotary-wing aerodynamics, with applications to helicopters, and application of the relevant principles to the aerodynamic design of a helicopter rotor and its blades. The basic aim of this book is to make a complete text covering both the basic and applied aspects of theory of rotary wing flying machine for students, engineers, and applied physicists. The philosophy followed in this book is that the subject of helicopter aerodynamics is covered combining the theoretical analysis, physical features and the application aspects. Considerable number of solved examples and exercise problems with answers are coined for this book. This book will cater to the requirement of numerical problems on helicopter flight performance, which is required for the students of aeronautical/aerospace engineering. SALIENT FEATURES: To provide an introductory treatment of the aerodynamic theory of rotary-wing aircraft To study the fundamentals of rotor aerodynamics for rotorcraft in hovering flight, axial flight, and forward flight modes To perform blade element analysis, investigate rotating blade motion, and quantify basic helicopter performance

Ethirajan Rathakrishnan is Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. He is well known internationally for his research in the area of high-speed jets. The limit for the passive control of jets, called the Rathakrishnan Limit, is his contribution to the field of jet research, and the concept of breathing blunt nose (BBN), which simultaneously reduces the positive pressure at the nose and increases the low pressure at the base is his contribution to drag reduction at hypersonic speeds. A fellow of many professional societies including the Royal Aeronautical Society, Dr. Rathakrishnan serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Review of Aerospace Engineering (IREASE) and International Review of Mechanical Engineering (IREME) journals. He has authored 12 other books.