Airbus Helicopters to conduct rotor blade research and investigate light armour

Airbus Helicopters UK, based at Oxford Airport, is taking part in two government-funded projects to develop technologies for blade health monitoring and armour protection.

The first of the two projects, worth £2m and part-funded by the Aerospace Technology Institute, will develop technologies to measure blade deformations in flight.

The project, which also involves Cranfield University under the leadership of PhD student Simone Weber, BHR Group and SME Helitune, will develop a tool to constantly monitor rotorcraft blades during flight, and to measure their performance under different conditions, according to Richard Atack, head of design and engineering at Airbus Helicopters UK.

“The goal of the project is to implement a health and usage monitoring system,” he said. “So you would monitor the blades throughout the duration of the flight, and then the data would be downloaded to record any anomalies.”

That will allow operators to better understand how the blades fly, and ultimately therefore to extend the periods between maintenance and reduce costs.