More Efficient Helicopter Blades Based on Whale Tubercles
(1) King Philip Regional High School, Wrentham, Massachusetts
https://doi.org/10.59720/13-028![Cover photo for More Efficient Helicopter Blades Based on Whale Tubercles](https://emerginginvestigators.org/rails/active_storage/representations/proxy/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBXZz09IiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--64a0777f4ca8c02260d8fee710c0888a843d3fe3/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaDdCem9MWm05eWJXRjBTU0lJY0c1bkJqb0dSVlE2QzNKbGMybDZaVWtpRFRZd01IZzJNREErQmpzR1ZBPT0iLCJleHAiOm51bGwsInB1ciI6InZhcmlhdGlvbiJ9fQ==--33b2b080106a274a4ca568f8742d366d42f20c14/weitzman_0.png)
The goal of this project was to increase the efficiency of the helicopter blades on the Double Horse 9053 RC Helicopter by adding tubercles based off those of a humpback whale. Increases in efficiency were determined by measuring the wind speed of control blades at three different speeds and then comparing these speeds to the wind speeds of tubercle-designed blades. The control blades had no tubercles while the tubercle blades had a set of 8 or 4 tubercles per blade. After analysis of increases in wind speeds based off the control, it was found that the 8-tubercle blades often had an increase in speed. The 4-tubercle blades had a decrease in output. The data supports the idea that the number and placement of tubercles matters. This small-scale experiment shows potential for improvements in the efficiency of full-scale helicopters.
This article has been tagged with: