The futuristic-looking Blue Edge™ main rotor blade displayed at Heli-Expo 2010 is a maturing noise reduction technology that has been validated in Eurocopter flight trials since 2007.
With its revolutionary double-swept shape, the Blue Edge™ design changes the blade-vortex interaction (BVI) that occurs at the tip of any helicopter blade—significantly reducing noise levels and attenuating the pulsating phenomenon commonly associated with helicopter flight.
“As a passive ‘plug and play’ solution, Blue Edge™ is highly effective in treating the noise created during a typical descent profile,” said Yves Favennec, Eurocopter’s Research and Innovation Vice President.
Flight demonstrations on an EC155 testbed have shown a 3-4 dB noise reduction with Blue Edge™, which effectively halves a helicopter’s noise profile during descent.
