A low-noise helicopter blade, AT1, was designed with the concept of reducing noise without the drop of rotor performance. In the concept, High-Speed Impulsive (HSI) noise is reduced by applying a thin airfoil in the tip region and a dog-tooth like extension in the leading-edge of the tip region. Blade-Vortex Interaction (BVI) noise is reduced by applying the extension and a strong taper near the tip end. The stall angle of the blade is increased by the effect of the vortex generated from the leading-edge extension. As a result, the drop of rotor performance caused by the thin airfoil and the reduction of rotor rotational speed is recovered. The low-noise characteristics and the performance of AT1 were evaluated by a model rotor test conducted at Deutsch Niederländischer Windkanal (DNW). It is shown that AT1 reduces HSI noise and BVI noise and has good performance in forward flight conditions. However, the improvement of performance in high-lift conditions still remains as a future problem.
