On June 18th, 2019 during the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, an agreement for trilateral cooperation on rotorcraft between ONERA, JAXA and DLR was signed.
Artist’s impressions of compound helicopters. Left: Airbus Helicopters’ RACER with the contributions by ONERA and DLR shown in magenta and orange. Right: JAXA’s proposal for a compound helicopter..
This trilateral research agreement will investigate optimisation methods for the creation of a new generation of rotorcraft blades. This new four-year cooperation will focus on multi-objective optimization of main rotor blades in hover and forward flight, including aerodynamic and aero acoustic performances.
Each of the partners has many years of experience in the field of rotorcraft design. ONERA and DLR supported Airbus Helicopters in the development of the RACER compound helicopter, JAXA is pursuing a compound strategy to enlarge their range of rotorcraft. JAXA has also worked with ONERA on rotor optimisation in a previous cooperation, while another collaboration with DLR examined simulation techniques for helicopter rotors. The next logical step is to bring all three partners together to further extend their rotor optimisation expertise.
ONERA, JAXA and DLR have been working closely together in aviation research for more than 15 years, with helicopter research being a central pillar of their joint activities. In addition, the partners cooperate in areas such as aeroelasticity, supersonic technologies and propulsion technologies for future electric aircrafts.
Pr Rolf Henke, member of DLR executive board, Bruno Sainjon CEO of ONERA and Dr Hisashi Sano, vice-president of JAXA
