PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Advanced Technology Office (ATO) is initiating a new program focused on revolutionizing the current method of designing helicopter rotor blades thereby enabling the creation of novel rotor blade designs that can dramatically reduce the acoustic signature of a helicopter without sacrificing flight performance. The focus of the first phase of this program is to create a physics-based design tool that can predict performance regardless of blade shape. This would enable the virtual testing of a wide variety of designs from unusual tips to movable flaps or slats or any other innovative design idea. Subsequent phases of the program are anticipated to concentrate on developing, testing, and transitioning an advanced low-noise blade design developed using the new design tools. The primary limitation of existing computational models is their inability to accurately predict the pressure distribution on a rotor blade. One approach to delivering such a capability would be to make use of recent advances in Large Eddy Simulation (LES), LES-hybrid approaches, and Detached Eddy Simulation (DES). We note, however, that the problem of predicting the airloads on a rotor blade is a comprehensive problem. It is necessary but not sufficient to develop a CFD approach that accurately models the airflow around a blade of arbitrary design. It is expected that proposed solutions will include a method for addressing the comprehensive nature of the problem. Comprehensive models, either existing or new, may be incorporated into the overall design approach that is being proposed. PROPOSERS DAY CONFERENCE: A Proposers Day Conference for Phase 1 of the Helicopter Quieting Program will be held on 14 January 2004 at the Executive Conference Center, Strategic Analysis, Inc., 3601 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA beginning at 8:30am with an anticipated ending time of 3:00pm. The purpose of the conference is to provide information on the program, address questions from potential proposers and provide a forum for potential proposers to present their capabilities for teaming opportunities. It is anticipated that a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the program will be released after the conference. Please contact Mr. Manfai Fong by e-mail (
[email protected]) no later than 7 January 2004 if you plan to attend. Please declare your citizenship in the e-mail. Foreign nationals must complete and return DARPA Foreign National Visitor Request (DARPA Form 60) no later than 7 January 2004 if they wish to attend the conference. Attendance at the Proposers Day Conference is not required to propose to any BAA that may be published in the future as related to this technology area. It is expected that teams of experts will be needed to combine advanced CFD methods with the comprehensive rotor models that constitute a design tool. During the conference, time and facilities will be available to facilitate teaming. Additionally, a portion of the conference will be reserved for presentations by prospective proposers who wish to present company overviews, discuss their technology expertise, or discuss teaming opportunities. Presentations may contain up to five (5) slides and will be limited to five (5) minutes followed by five (5) minutes of question/answer if needed. It is the presenter?s responsibility to ensure that all material that is presented is approved by the organization that funded the research. Proposers interested in making presentations should contact Mr. Fong by 7 January 2004 for scheduling. In addition, an electronic copy of the presentation slides must be provided to Mr. Fong by 7 January 2004 for prior review by DARPA. For technical questions concerning the program, please e-mail
[email protected] and an answer will be provided as soon as possible. For general questions regarding the conference, please contact Mr. Manfai Fong (
[email protected], 703-351-8468) of the Systems Planning Corporation (SPC), or Mr. Jay Dryer (
[email protected], 703-647-1181) of SRA International Inc. These individuals are SETA contractors providing support for this effort.