IISc prof develops system to reduce chopper crashes

An associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) here has developed a real-time online health monitoring system for tail rotor flexbeams that can “greatly reduce the chances of helicopter accidents.”

“Considering the fact that tail rotor failures have frequently caused fatalities, the potential for taking this research further for the benefit of the worldwide helicopter community is immense,” Dineshkumar Harursampath, the associate professor, said in a statement to Deccan Herald. He developed this system by collaborating with his former students.

In the lead up to the fourth Asian-Australian Rotorcraft Forum, to be held in Bengaluru from November 16 to 18, the Non-linear Multifunctional Composites Analysis and Design (NMCAD) Lab at the IISc hosted a lecture on Friday by James A Viola, an internationally recognised expert on helicopter safety. Viola is a co-chair of the US Helicopter Safety Team and manager of the Federal Aviation Administration’s General Aviation and Commercial Division. He is also a government member of the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee. He showed interest in the system, Prof Harursampath said.

Most of the people who keep reading about helicopter crashes aren’t aware that rotary wing aircraft can be safer in many situations than fixed wing ones. “For example, after an engine failure, an alert helicopter pilot can utilise the momentum in his rotor to safely land through its timely disengagement. In the absence of such autorotation feature, landing an aircraft in a similar situation is much tougher, if not impossible in the case of single engine military aircraft. In this context, James and his International Helicopter Safety Team’s (IHST) long-term vision of ‘zero accidents’ is not just wishful thinking,” said Prof Harursampath. Their short-term goal of eliminating fatal accidents is even easier to visualise, he added.

Another helicopter safety project of the NMCAD Lab that Viola was curious about was improvement in fatigue life and/or performance of main rotor blades through three out-of-the-box ideas, individually and in synergy, said Prof Harursampath.

“According to James, these technologies would go a long way in achieving the zero-accident vision of the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) of which India, the US and Canada are integral parts,” he added.