Image: Future SMART Rotor Blades

Description: Helicopters today are considered a loud, bumpy and inefficient mode for day-to-day domestic travel—best reserved for medical emergencies, traffic reporting and hovering over celebrity weddings. But NASA research into rotor blades made with shape-changing materials could change that view. The solution could lie in rotor blades made with piezoelectric materials that flex when subjected to electrical fields, not unlike the way human muscles work when stimulated by a current of electricity sent from the brain. NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also known as DARPA, the U.S. Army, and The Boeing Company have spent the past decade experimenting with smart material actuated rotor, or SMART, technology, which includes the piezoelectric materials. Tests in a NASA wind tunnel of this SMART rotor hub confirm the ability of advanced helicopter-blade active control strategies to reduce vibrations and noise.
Usage Terms: Public domain