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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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Introduction to helicopter dynamics 109<br />

Fig. 3.39 <strong>The</strong> excitation spectrum in a rotor fans out at RRPM increases. <strong>The</strong> natural frequencies <strong>of</strong> flapping<br />

and dragging <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> blade will also change with RRPM due to centrifugal stiffening. If <strong>the</strong>se two effects are<br />

superimposed, it is possible to see where <strong>the</strong> excitation frequencies coincide with response frequencies. This<br />

is known as an interference diagram. (AugustaWestland)<br />

has a hingeless rotor, <strong>the</strong> flapping resonance is above <strong>the</strong> rotor frequency and so <strong>the</strong><br />

rotor phase lag will be less than 90 ◦ .<br />

In all o<strong>the</strong>r cases, coincidence is avoided so that at normal RRPM no resonances<br />

are excited. This result was not an accident. During <strong>the</strong> design process <strong>the</strong> blade was<br />

designed with a tapering spar resulting in <strong>the</strong> stiffness and <strong>the</strong> mass per unit length<br />

being non-uniform so that <strong>the</strong> flapping resonant frequencies are not integer multiples<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fundamental. Where constructional techniques such as extrusion do not allow<br />

<strong>the</strong> blade or spar to taper, <strong>the</strong> blades can also be detuned by placing weights at critical<br />

points along <strong>the</strong> span so that <strong>the</strong> effective mass per unit length is no longer uniform.<br />

Note that <strong>the</strong> technique <strong>of</strong> detuning only works at one rotor speed, at o<strong>the</strong>r speeds <strong>the</strong><br />

excitation frequency is different and <strong>the</strong> response will also differ. Detuning will also be<br />

employed in <strong>the</strong> hull so that hull resonance does not magnify rotor-induced vibrations.

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