Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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Farhan Gandhi

Project: 
Smart Blades to Enhance Wind Turbine Performance
Education: 

Doctor of Philosophy in Aerospace Engineering, August 1995
University of Maryland, College Park, Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center

CeFPaC Experience: 

Rotorcraft Aeromechanics, Advanced Rotary-Wing Configurations: 
Conventional helicopters, high-speed configurations (coaxial/compound helicopters, tiltrotors), variable-RPM rotors, swashplateless rotor helicopters and multi-copters.  Passive design optimization, active and semi-active controls; for helicopter vibration reduction, aeroelastic and aeromechanical stability augmenation, blade-vortex interaction alleviation, and performance improvement; exploitation of control redundancy, and fault-tolerant control.

Morphing Rotorcraft Systems:
Variable rotor blade twist/camber, span, and chord; airfoil reversal; studies on performance improvement and increase in aircraft capability, concepts for actuation implementation, flight simulation studies; modular and reconfigurable rotary-wing aircraft designs.

Smart Materials and Structures:
Shape Memory Alloys/Polymers, Electro- and Magneto-rheological fluid dampers and devices, Piezoelectric actuators and Active Constrained Layer Treatments – for structural vibration reduction and damping augmentation.  Flexible skin designs for morphing aircraft wings.  Variable Stiffness Structures, Multi-Functional Cellular Structures, and Multi-Stable Structures.

Selected Publications: 

Khoshlahjeh, M., and Gandhi, F., “Extendable Chord Rotors for Helicopter Envelope Expansion and Performance Improvement,” Journal of the American Helicopter Society, Vol. 59, No. 1, Jan 2014, pp. 1-10(10), DOI: 10.4050/JAHS.59.012007.

Gandhi, F., Duling, C., and Straub, F., “On Power and Actuation Requirement in Swashplateless Primary Control using Trailing Edge Flaps,” The Aeronautical Journal, Vol. 118, Issue 1203, May 2014, pp. 503-521. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001924000009337.

Moser, P., Barbarino, S., and Gandhi, F., “Helicopter Rotor Blade Chord Extension Morphing using a Centrifugally Actuated von-Mises Truss,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 51, No. 5 (2014), pp. 1422-1431.
doi: 10.2514/1.C032299.

Niemiec, R., Jacobellis, G., and Gandhi, F., “Reversible Airfoils for Stopped Rotors in High Speed Flight,” Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 23, No. 11, 2014, 12 pages, doi: 10.1088/0964-1726/23/11/115013.

Mistry, M., and Gandhi, F., “Helicopter Performance Improvement with Variable Rotor Radius and RPM,” Journal of the American Helicopter Society, Vol. 59, No. 4, Oct 2014, pp. 17-35(19),
DOI: 10.4050/JAHS.59.042010.


Gandhi, F., and Hayden, E., “Design, Development, and Hover Testing of a Helicopter Rotor Blade Chord Extension Morphing System,” Smart Materials and Structures, Vol. 24, No. 3, 2015, 14 pages.
doi:10.1088/0964-1726/24/3/035024.

Mistry, M., and Gandhi, F., “Design, fabrication and benchtop testing of a helicopter rotor blade section with warp-induced spanwise camber variation,” Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 26 Issue 10, 2015, pp. 1272-1289.  doi: 10.1177/1045389X14541491.

Reddinger, J.-P., and Gandhi, F., “Physics-Based Trim Optimization of an Articulated Slowed-Rotor Compound Helicopter in High-Speed Flight,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 52, No. 6 (2015), pp. 1756-1766.
doi: 10.2514/1.C032939.

Niemiec, R., and Gandhi, F., “Multirotor Controls, Trim, and Autonomous Flight Dynamics of Plus- and Cross-Quadcopters,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 54, No. 5 (2017), pp. 1910-1920, doi: 10.2514/1.C034165.

Krishnamurthi, J., and Gandhi, F., “Flight Simulation and Control of a Helicopter Undergoing Rotor Span Morphing,” Journal of the American Helicopter Society, Nov 2017, 20 pages,
DOI: 10.4050/JAHS.63.012007.

DiPalma, M., and Gandhi, F., “Bi-Directional Stiffness for Airfoil Camber Morphing,” AIAA Journal, Dec 2017, 8 pages, DOI: 10.2514/1.J056629.

Niemiec, R., Gandhi, F., and Singh, R., “Control and Performance of a Reconfigurable Multi-Copter,” Journal of Aircraft, Feb 2018, 12 pages, DOI: 10.2514/1.C034731.