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The Art of the Helicopter John Watkinson - Karatunov.net

The Art of the Helicopter John Watkinson - Karatunov.net

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Engines and transmissions 251<br />

sliprings (2) and carbon brushes. <strong>The</strong> rotation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> resultant mag<strong>net</strong>ic field causes flux<br />

reversals in <strong>the</strong> stationary mag<strong>net</strong>ic circuit or stator surrounding <strong>the</strong> rotor. A winding<br />

(4) on <strong>the</strong> stator will produce an alternating voltage. This cannot be used directly in<br />

a system using a DC battery, but must be rectified using diodes (5). Clearly rectified<br />

alternating current is very irregular, and in practice a more constant current is obtained<br />

by mounting three sets <strong>of</strong> coils on <strong>the</strong> stator at 120 ◦ . This results in a three-phase alternator<br />

and if <strong>the</strong> output is rectified with six diodes as shown in Figure 6.40 <strong>the</strong> voltage<br />

is much more constant. <strong>The</strong> diodes are usually incorporated into <strong>the</strong> alternator body<br />

so that <strong>the</strong>y may be cooled by fan.<br />

<strong>The</strong> output voltage is proportional to <strong>the</strong> field current. <strong>The</strong> voltage regulator (1)<br />

senses <strong>the</strong> system voltage, and if it is excessive, <strong>the</strong> field current is reduced. If it is too<br />

small, <strong>the</strong> field current is increased. As a result <strong>the</strong> system voltage will stabilize at a<br />

fixed value even if different loads are switched on and <strong>of</strong>f. A voltage regulator failure<br />

could result in full field current being applied. In this case <strong>the</strong> alternator output current<br />

would be limited by <strong>the</strong> inductance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> windings. <strong>The</strong> battery would absorb much<br />

<strong>of</strong> this current and eventually boil dry. Some machines have an overvoltage sensor to<br />

cut out <strong>the</strong> alternator if this happens.<br />

Fig. 6.40 <strong>The</strong> alternator <strong>of</strong> a light helicopter is fitted with a three-phase rectifier to provide DC power.

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