UMICH/MIT Helicopter Hover Test Stand

Spin test stand

With the main purpose to foster helicopter research collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan , this is a unique facility to test advanced rotor blade concepts. Originally built at MIT with support from Boeing Helicopters in the mid-1990’s, the Hover Test Stand Facility was moved to the University of Michigan in 2002 where it received a new advanced data acquisition system.

Spin test stand for determining unsteady aerodynamic loads
Control room

Key Facility Characteristics

  • 10-foot diameter Mach-scaled (active) rotor
  • Existing hub for two-bladed articulated rotor
  • Rotor driven by 150HP (480V/154A) motor
  • 138 low voltage and 24 high voltage channel through a specially designed slip-ring takes the signal from the rotating to the fixed system and vice-versa.
  • Fully instrumented blades and hub can be monitored through state-of-the-art computerized data acquisition system
  • High-voltage amplifiers capable of driving multiple high voltage actuators located in the rotating frame
  • The Facility’s load/moment measurement capability (based on JR3 sensor) is –500 to 2000 lbf in the vertical axis and –800 to 200 ft-lbf for its corresponding moment.