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At least 19 records

Dynamic analysis of rotor blade undergoing rotor power shutdown

A rigid flap-lag blade analysis was developed to simulate a rotor in a wind tunnel undergoing an emergency power shutdown. Results show that for a rotor at a nonzero shaft tilt angle undergoing an emergency power shutdown, the oscillatory lag response is divergent. The mean lag response is large when tested at high collective pitch angles. Reducing the collective pitch during the emergency shutdown reduces the steady lag response. Increasing the rotor shaft tilt angle increases the oscillatory lag response component. The blade lag response obtained by incorporating a nonlinear lag damper model indicates that in this case the equivalent linear viscous damping is lower than originally expected. Simulation results indicate that large oscillatory lag motions can be suppressed if the rotor shaft is returned to the fully vertical position during the emergency power shutdown.

Nguyen, Khanh Quoc↗

Blade lock for a rotor disk and rotor blade assembly

A rotor disk 18 and rotor blade 26 assembly is disclosed having a blade lock 66 which retains the rotor blade against axial movement in an axially extending blade retention slot 58. Various construction details are developed which shield the dead rim region D.sub.d and shift at least a portion of the loads associated with the locking device from the dead rim. In one detailed embodiment, a projection 68 from the live rim D.sub.1 of the disk 18 is adapted by slots 86 to receive blade locks 66.

Moore, Jerry H.↗

Estimation of blade airloads from rotor blade bending moments

A method is developed to estimate the blade normal airloads by using measured flap bending moments; that is, the rotor blade is used as a force balance. The blade's rotation is calculated in vacuum modes and the airloads are then expressed as an algebraic sum of the mode shapes, modal amplitudes, mass distribution, and frequency properties. The modal amplitudes are identified from the blade bending moments using the Strain Pattern Analysis Method. The application of the method is examined using simulated flap bending moment data that have been calculated for measured airloads for a full-scale rotor in a wind tunnel. The estimated airloads are compared with the wind tunnel measurements. The effects of the number of measurements, the number of modes, and errors in the measurements and the blade properties are examined, and the method is shown to be robust.

Bousman, William G.↗

Computational Study of Vortex-Induced Separation for a 5-Bladed Rotor

This work computationally investigated the rotor blade vortex-induced separation recently observed during an aerodynamic rotor test campaign in the NASA Langley Research Center 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. Two separate approaches (i.e., airfoil modification and blade tip modification) were studied to mitigate the vortex-induced separation. Low-fidelity tools based on blade element momentum theory were shown to mispredict the rotor inflow and were also shown to not capture the vortex-induced separation caused by perpendicular blade-vortex interaction. This misprediction was exploited to isolate the aerodynamic thrust deficit caused by the vortex-induced separation (i.e., 20%) from the thrust deficit due to inflow variation (i.e., 31%). High-fidelity tools were shown to reasonably predict aerodynamic forces within 13% and flow separation when compared to experimental results. The modified airfoil variant of the baseline rotor effectively mitigated the vortex-induced separation while the blade tip modified variant still showed separation, though the size and strength of the vortex was reduced. Acoustic predictions were underpredicted by 10 dB from preliminary measurements taken in the untreated wind tunnel. Broadband noise contributions from different rotor blade sections showed that self-noise due to flow separation and other turbulent boundary layer mechanisms was the dominant noise source for all three rotor cases, followed by blade-wake interaction noise caused by perpendicular blade-vortex interactions.

aerodynamics↗

A Flight Determination of the Moments of the YG-1B Tapered Blade Rotor about the Hub Trunnions

At the request of the Materiel Division, Wright Field, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics is conducting a program of flight tests on a Kellett YG-1B autogiro equipped with a new type of rotor blade. The new blades are tapered in both plan form. and thickness and are designed to avoid periodic blade twist. One phase of the investigation, involving determination of the moments of the resultant rotor force about the trunnions on which the hub is pivoted for control, has been completed. The results obtained are reported herein.

Bailey, F. J., Jr.↗

Estimation of blade airloads from rotor blade bending moments

This paper presents a method for the estimation of blade airloads, based on the measurements of flap bending moments. In this procedure, the blade rotation in vacuum modes is calculated, and the airloads are expressed as an algebraic sum of the mode shapes, modal amplitudes, mass distribution, and frequency properties. The method was validated by comparing the calculated airload distribution with the original wind tunnel measurements which were made using ten modes and twenty measurement stations. Good agreement between the predicted and the measured airloads was found up to 0.90 R, but the agreement degraded towards the blade tip. The method is shown to be quite robust to the type of experimental problems that could be expected to occur in the testing of full-scale and model-scale rotors.

Bousman, William G.↗

A study of autogiro rotor-blade oscillations in the plane of the rotor disk

An analysis of the factors governing the oscillation of an autogiro rotor blade in the plane of the rotor disk showed that the contribution of the air forces to the resultant motion was small and that the oscillation is essentially a direct effect of the rotor-blade flapping motion. A comparison of calculated oscillations with those measured in flight on three different rotors disclosed that the calculations gave satisfactory agreement with experiment. The calculated air forces on the rotor blade appear to be larger than the experimental ones, but this discrepancy can be attributed to the deficiencies in the strip analysis.

Wheatley, John B↗

Flapping inertia for selected rotor blades

Aerodynamics of helicopter rotor systems cannot be investigated without consideration for the dynamics of the rotor. One of the principal properties of the rotor which affects the rotor dynamics is the inertia of the rotor blade about its root attachment. Previous aerodynamic investigation have been performed on rotor blades with a variety of planforms to determine the performance differences due to blade planform. The blades tested for this investigation have been tested on the U.S. Army 2 meter rotor test system (2MRTS) in the NASA Langley 14 by 22 foot subsonic tunnel for hover performance. This investigation was intended to provide fundamental information on the flapping inertia of five rotor blades with differing planforms. The inertia of the bare cuff and the cuff with a blade extension were also measured for comparison with the inertia of the blades. Inertia was determined using a swing testing technique, using the period of oscillation to determine the effective flapping inertia. The effect of damping in the swing test was measured and described. A comparison of the flapping inertials for rectangular and tapered planform blades of approximately the same mass showed the tapered blades to have a lower inertia, as expected.

Berry, John D.↗

Investigation of rotor blade element airloads for a teetering rotor in the blade stall regime

A model of a teetering rotor was tested in a low speed wind tunnel. Blade element airloads measured on an articulated model rotor were compared with the teetering rotor and showed that the teetering rotor is subjected to less extensive flow separation. Retreating blade stall was studied. Results show that stall, under the influence of unsteady aerodynamic effects, consists of four separate stall events, each associated with a vortex shed from the leading edge and sweeping over the upper surface of the rotor blade. Current rotor performance prediction methodology was evaluated through computer simulation.

Dadone, L. U.↗