Performance and Design Investigation of Heavy Lift Tilt-Rotor with Aerodynamic Interference Effects

Performance calculations were conducted for 146,600 lb conventional and quad tilt-rotors, which are to cruise at 300 kt at a 4000 ft/95 degrees F condition. Aerodynamic interference effects on the aircraft cruise performance were quantified. Aerodynamic interference improves the aircraft lift-to-drag ratio of the baseline conventional tilt-rotor. However, interference degrades the aircraft performance of the baseline quad tilt-rotor, mostly due to the unfavorable effect,; from the front wing to the rear wing. A parametric study was conducted to understand the effects of design parameters on the performance of the aircraft. A reduction in rotor tip speed increased the aircraft lift-to-drag ratio the most among the design parameters investigated.