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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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(a)<br />

(b)<br />

Introduction to helicopter dynamics 101<br />

Fig. 3.32 <strong>The</strong> blades are not rigid and <strong>the</strong> time variant lift distribution will excite <strong>the</strong>m in various bending<br />

modes. (a) Modes for an articulated rotor in which <strong>the</strong> blades are hinged at <strong>the</strong> root. (b) Modes for a teetering<br />

or stiff hingeless rotor in which moments can pass from one blade to <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r.<br />

constant, <strong>the</strong> moment applied to <strong>the</strong> mast would be modulated. However, <strong>the</strong> blade<br />

pull is not constant because <strong>of</strong> blade flexing.<br />

<strong>The</strong> application <strong>of</strong> cyclic pitch and <strong>the</strong> variations in airspeed seen by a blade segment<br />

will result in chord-wise movement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> centre <strong>of</strong> pressure which will excite <strong>the</strong> blade<br />

in torsion, placing alternating stresses on <strong>the</strong> pitch control mechanism.<br />

A fur<strong>the</strong>r complexity is that <strong>the</strong> finite number <strong>of</strong> blades in a real rotor cannot create<br />

a uniform downwash. <strong>The</strong> downwash velocity changes at <strong>the</strong> blade passing frequency.<br />

Figure 3.33 shows that in forward flight a given blade element traces out a path known<br />

as a cycloid. This path will take <strong>the</strong> blade element across its own path and those <strong>of</strong> a<br />

number <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r blades depending on <strong>the</strong> forward speed and <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> blades. As<br />

<strong>the</strong> blade element crosses a previous path, <strong>the</strong> higher downwash velocity will reduce <strong>the</strong><br />

angle <strong>of</strong> attack, whereas between <strong>the</strong> previous paths <strong>the</strong> angle <strong>of</strong> attack will increase.<br />

<strong>The</strong> result is that <strong>the</strong> lift <strong>of</strong> a particular blade element is modulated by <strong>the</strong> wakes <strong>of</strong><br />

previous blades. Over most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rotation <strong>the</strong> effect is generally not serious because

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