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The Art of the Helicopter John Watkinson - Karatunov.net

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100 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Art</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Helicopter</strong><br />

(a)<br />

(b)<br />

Fig. 3.31 Lift on a given blade is not constant, but a function <strong>of</strong> azimuth angle. This results in harmonic blade<br />

flapping. (a) shows second harmonic flapping. (b) shows third harmonic flapping.<br />

Centrifugal stiffening keeps <strong>the</strong> blades taut giving <strong>the</strong>m certain <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> characteristics<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> string <strong>of</strong> a musical instrument, except that <strong>the</strong> tension is not constant but is a<br />

function <strong>of</strong> radius. <strong>The</strong> response to excitation by a Fourier series is shown in Figure 3.32.<br />

A variety <strong>of</strong> harmonic structures will occur. At low frequencies <strong>the</strong> blade motion can be<br />

considered a form <strong>of</strong> flapping. At some higher frequency it will have to be considered<br />

a vibration. Note that blades carried on flapping bearings (a) will have a different<br />

harmonic response to that <strong>of</strong> hingeless blades. Teetering rotors and hingeless rotors<br />

have a different harmonic structure (b) from articulated rotors because <strong>the</strong> blades are<br />

fixed toge<strong>the</strong>r in <strong>the</strong> centre <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rotor.<br />

When a blade flexes, <strong>the</strong> CM <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> blade elements must be closer to <strong>the</strong> rotor axis<br />

than when <strong>the</strong> blade is straight. Thus <strong>the</strong> blade mass is being hauled in and out against<br />

<strong>the</strong> rotational forces, modulating <strong>the</strong> blade tension. As <strong>the</strong> root tension is typically<br />

measured in tons, it should be clear that <strong>the</strong>se lateral forces are considerable.<br />

In <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> harmonic flapping, conservation <strong>of</strong> blade momentum suggests that<br />

<strong>the</strong>re will also be harmonic dragging. <strong>The</strong> azimuthal variation in lift caused by <strong>the</strong><br />

application <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cyclic control will result in variations in induced drag that excite<br />

<strong>the</strong> blade in <strong>the</strong> dragging plane. This will be compounded by <strong>the</strong> azimuthal variation<br />

in pr<strong>of</strong>ile drag. <strong>The</strong> blade will respond to <strong>the</strong>se dragging excitations as a function <strong>of</strong><br />

its dynamics and damping. When <strong>the</strong> blade drags, <strong>the</strong> effective moment-arm at which<br />

<strong>the</strong> blade outward pull is applied to <strong>the</strong> hub changes. Thus even if <strong>the</strong> blade pull were

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