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At least 55 records · Page 3

A review of US Army aircrew-aircraft integration research programs

If the U.S. Army's desire to develop a one crew version of the Light Helicopter Family (LHX) helicopter is to be realized, both flightpath management and mission management will have to be performed by one crew. Flightpath management, the helicopter pilot, and the handling qualities of the helicopter were discussed. In addition, mission management, the helicopter pilot, and pilot control/display interface were considered. Aircrew-aircraft integration plans and programs were reviewed.

Key, D. C.↗

Aircrew-aircraft integration: A summary of US Army research programs and plans

A review of selected programs which illustrate the research efforts of the U.S. Army Aeromechanics Laboratory in the area of aircrew-aircraft integration is presented. Plans for research programs to support the development of future military rotorcraft are also described. The crew of a combat helicopter must, in general, perform two major functions during the conduct of a particular mission: flightpath control and mission management. Accordingly, the research programs described are being conducted in the same two major categories: (1) flightpath control, which encompasses the areas of handling qualities, stability and control, and displays for the pilot's control of the rotorcraft's flightpath, and (2) mission management, which includes human factors and cockpit integration research topics related to performance of navigation, communication, and aircraft systems management tasks.

Key, D. L.↗

Integrated cockpit design for the Army helicopter improvement program

The main Army Helicopter Improvement Program (AHIP) mission is to navigate precisely, locate targets accurately, communicate their position to other battlefield elements, and to designate them for laser guided weapons. The onboard navigation and mast-mounted sight (MMS) avionics enable accurate tracking of current aircraft position and subsequent target location. The AHIP crewstation development was based on extensive mission/task analysis, function allocation, total system design, and test and verification. The avionics requirements to meet the mission was limited by the existing aircraft structural and performance characteristics and resultant space, weight, and power restrictions. These limitations and night operations requirement led to the use of night vision goggles. The combination of these requirements and limitations dictated an integrated control/display approach using multifunction displays and controls.

Drennen, T.↗

A review of US Army aircrew-aircraft integration research programs

The desire of the Army for a one crew helicopter that can perform the scout and attack role is forcing the integration of handling qualities and mission management disciplines and concerns. Some recent studies and results in these disciplines are reviewed. The need for a more unified approach to support new helicopter development is described along with a plan to develop fundamental principles needed for efficient man machine interface design.

Key, D. L.↗

Operation and maintenance requirements of the Army Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV)

The Remotely Piloted Vehicle (RPV) system is being developed to provide the Army with a target acquistion, target location, and laser designation capability that will significantly enhance the effectiveness of the artillery. Iterative analyses of the manpower, personnel, and training (MPT) requirements for an RPV system configured to accommodate both a daylight television and a forward looking infrared (FLIR) mission payload subsystem (FMPS) and related support subsystems are examined. Additionally, this analysis incorporates a 24 hour-a-day operational scenario. Therefore, the information presented was developed with a view towards delineating the differences (or deltas) imposed by the new requirements resulting from FMPS/24 hour operating day functions.

Source record↗

Modified US Army U-8F ground vibration test

The Dryden Flight Research Facility of NASA Ames Research Center conducted a ground vibration test on a modified U.S. Army U-8F airplane. Modifications included new engines, propellers, and engine-mounted truss assemblies. The ground vibration test was conducted using sine dwell, single-point random, and impact excitations. The test was performed to determine modal frequencies, mode shapes, and structural damping coefficients of the airframe and propeller with full and empty fuel tanks. The data presented include frequency response plots, rigid-body and structural modal frequencies, and mode shapes.

Kehoe, M. W.↗

Aircrew-aircraft integration - A summary of U.S. Army research programs and plans

A review of selected programs which illustrate the research efforts of the U.S. Army Aeromechanics Laboratory in the area of aircrew-aircraft integration is presented. Plans for research programs to support the development of future military rotorcraft are also described. The crew of a combat helicopter must, in general, perform two major functions during the conduct of a particular mission: flightpath control and mission management. Accordingly, the research programs described are being conducted in the same two major categories: (1) flightpath control, which encompasses the areas of handling qualities, stability and control, and displays for the pilot's control of the rotorcraft's flightpath, and (2) mission management, which includes human factors and cockpit integration research topics related to performance of navigation, communication, and aircraft systems management tasks.

Key, D. L.↗

Description of the US Army small-scale 2-meter rotor test system

A small-scale powered rotor model was designed for use as a research tool in the exploratory testing of rotors and helicopter models. The model, which consists of a 29 hp rotor drive system, a four-blade fully articulated rotor, and a fuselage, was designed to be simple to operate and maintain in wind tunnels of moderate size and complexity. Two six-component strain-gauge balances are used to provide independent measurement of the rotor and fuselage aerodynamic loads. Commercially available standardized hardware and equipment were used to the maximum extent possible, and specialized parts were designed so that they could be fabricated by normal methods without using highly specialized tooling. The model was used in a hover test of three rotors having different planforms and in a forward flight investigation of a 21-percent-scale model of a U.S. Army scout helicopter equipped with a mast-mounted sight.

Phelps, Arthur E., III↗

Computational human factors in human-machine engineering - The Army-NASA aircrew/aircraft integration (A3I) program

The A3I program is a joint US Army-NASA exploratory program to develop a rational predictive methodology for helicopter cockpit system design, including mission requirements and training-system implications, that integrates human factors engineering with other vehicle system design disciplines at an early stage in the development process. The program will produce a prototye human factors/computer-aided engineering (HF/CAE) workstation suite for use by design professionals. This interactive environment will include computational and expert systems for the analysis and estimation of the impact of cockpit design and mission specification on system performance by considering the performance consequences from the human component of the system, especially as an integral part of the overall system operation, and from the very beginning of the design process. The central issues of pilot workload, performance, and training needs, and appropriate uses of automation are interrelated to affect all integrated design considerations in future man-machine systems. The goal is to aid designers in understanding these complex interactions and in optimally matching human capabilities with advanced cockpit systems.

Hartzell, E. James↗

A review and forecast of engine system research at the Army Propulsion Directorate

An account is given of the development status and achievements to date of the U.S. Army Propulsion Directorate's Small Turbine Engine Research (STER) programs, which are experimental investigations of the physics of entire engine systems from the viewpoints of component interactions and/or system dynamics. STER efforts are oriented toward the evaluation of complete turboshaft engine advanced concepts and are conducted at the ECRL-2 indoor, sea-level engine test facility. Attention is given to the results obtained by STER experiments concerned with IR-suppressing engine exhausts, a ceramic turbine-blade shroud, an active shaft-vibration control system, and a ceramic-matrix combustor liner.

Bobula, George A.↗

Initial results from the joint NASA-Lewis/U.S. Army icing flight research tests

The U.S. Army/NASA joint testing of the various aspects of in-flight and ground-based icing simulation facilities and instrumentation is reviewed. The NASA DN-6 icing research aircraft, the U.S. Army JU-21A aircraft, the portable spray rig, helicopter icing spray system, and icing research tunnel are examined. Natural and artificial icing tests, turbulence measurements, and calibration and icing research tunnel tests are described and test results are reported.

Belte, Daumants↗

Army-NASA aircrew/aircraft integration program (A3I) software detailed design document, phase 3

The capabilities and design approach of the MIDAS (Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System) computer-aided engineering (CAE) workstation under development by the Army-NASA Aircrew/Aircraft Integration Program is detailed. This workstation uses graphic, symbolic, and numeric prototyping tools and human performance models as part of an integrated design/analysis environment for crewstation human engineering. Developed incrementally, the requirements and design for Phase 3 (Dec. 1987 to Jun. 1989) are described. Software tools/models developed or significantly modified during this phase included: an interactive 3-D graphic cockpit design editor; multiple-perspective graphic views to observe simulation scenarios; symbolic methods to model the mission decomposition, equipment functions, pilot tasking and loading, as well as control the simulation; a 3-D dynamic anthropometric model; an intermachine communications package; and a training assessment component. These components were successfully used during Phase 3 to demonstrate the complex interactions and human engineering findings involved with a proposed cockpit communications design change in a simulated AH-64A Apache helicopter/mission that maps to empirical data from a similar study and AH-1 Cobra flight test.

Banda, Carolyn↗

Computational rotorcraft flowfield research at the U.S. Army AeroStructures Directorate

Rotorcraft aerodynamic interaction investigations conducted experimentally and computationally by the U.S. Army at the NASA Langley subsonic tunnel are described. Consideration is given to fuselage velocity computation, an interactional aerodynamics method, a rotor/wake/fuselage method, predicted wake geometry, views of tip vortex trajectory, and an inflow velocity study. Calculations were found to predict the periodic geometry of a rotor wake. Details of its interactions with the fuselage surface are not well modeled with inviscid panel methods. For the cases investigated in the present study, the overall effects of the fuselage are relatively small. However, increasing the size of the fuselage or decreasing the fuselage-rotor space will amplify these effects.

Berry, John D.↗

Army Research Concerns in Engine Sealing

The Army Propulsion Directorate is primarily concerned with small engine technology, where sealing performance is most critical. Tip leakage and secondary flow losses have a much greater performance impact on small engine aero-components than on large engines. A brief survey and critique of presently employed sealing concepts is presented. Some recent new research thrusts that show promise for substantial improvement are discussed. An especially promising approach for small engine applications is brush seals. Brush seal concepts are being considered for outer air seal and secondary airflow system seal locations.

Bill, Robert C.↗

Army-NASA aircrew/aircraft integration program. Phase 5: A3I Man-Machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) software concept document

This is the Software Concept Document for the Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (MIDAS) being developed as part of Phase V of the Army-NASA Aircrew/Aircraft Integration (A3I) Progam. The approach taken in this program since its inception in 1984 is that of incremental development with clearly defined phases. Phase 1 began in 1984 and subsequent phases have progressed at approximately 10-16 month intervals. Each phase of development consists of planning, setting requirements, preliminary design, detailed design, implementation, testing, demonstration and documentation. Phase 5 began with an off-site planning meeting in November, 1990. It is expected that Phase 5 development will be complete and ready for demonstration to invited visitors from industry, government and academia in May, 1992. This document, produced during the preliminary design period of Phase 5, is intended to record the top level design concept for MIDAS as it is currently conceived. This document has two main objectives: (1) to inform interested readers of the goals of the MIDAS Phase 5 development period, and (2) to serve as the initial version of the MIDAS design document which will be continuously updated as the design evolves. Since this document is written fairly early in the design period, many design issues still remain unresolved. Some of the unresolved issues are mentioned later in this document in the sections on specific components. Readers are cautioned that this is not a final design document and that, as the design of MIDAS matures, some of the design ideas recorded in this document will change. The final design will be documented in a detailed design document published after the demonstrations.

Banda, Carolyn↗

The Army word recognition system

The application of speech recognition technology in the Army command and control area is presented. The problems associated with this program are described as well as as its relevance in terms of the man/machine interactions, voice inflexions, and the amount of training needed to interact with and utilize the automated system.

Hadden, David R.↗

Development of aeronautical engines by the Army and Navy

Different aircraft engines are categorized as being of interest to only the Army or Navy or to both armed services. A listing of the different engines is presented along with some statistics, namely, horsepower.

Source record↗

Utilization of composite materials by the US Army: A look ahead

An overview of the use of composite materials in the Army is given. Important efforts to document design information, supporting research, and some national applications for composite materials are given. The use of Kevlar fiber in both vests and helmets for the soldier is outlined. The advantages of using fiberglass in the hull of the Bradley fighting ground vehicle is given. The full potential of composite materials is realized in the recently awarded LH Comanche RAH-66 program. The use of composites for application to rocket motor uses, wings, fins, and casings is under development. Because of the uncertain funding profile, it is more important than ever that technology planning provide the basis for effective prioritization and leveraging of the tech base efforts involving advanced materials.

Chait, Richard↗