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The Art of the Helicopter John Watkinson - Karatunov.net

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Rotors in practice 149<br />

Fig. 4.29 (a) A rotor turning anticlockwise with forward whirling. <strong>The</strong> reaction from <strong>the</strong> hull opposes <strong>the</strong><br />

whirling. (b) A rotor turning anticlockwise with backward whirling. <strong>The</strong> reaction from <strong>the</strong> hull which is <strong>the</strong> same<br />

as in (a) is now in <strong>the</strong> same direction as <strong>the</strong> whirling and amplifies it. This is <strong>the</strong> mechanism <strong>of</strong> ground resonance.<br />

180 ◦ passing over <strong>the</strong> nose. In <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> (a), to obtain <strong>the</strong> rocking frequency seen by <strong>the</strong><br />

hull, <strong>the</strong> forward whirling frequency must be added to <strong>the</strong> rotor frequency. Clearly <strong>the</strong><br />

whirling is progressive. If <strong>the</strong> hull/undercarriage system is resonant at this frequency,<br />

<strong>the</strong>n it will produce a force opposing <strong>the</strong> rocking excitation because <strong>the</strong> response <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

hull at resonance must be anti-phase to <strong>the</strong> exciting motion as was shown in section 3.27.<br />

This force is applied at <strong>the</strong> mast. It will be clear from Figure 4.29(a) that at <strong>the</strong> instant<br />

depicted by <strong>the</strong> figure, <strong>the</strong> angle θ between hub and blade shank is increasing. <strong>The</strong> force<br />

applied by <strong>the</strong> mast tends to reduce θ, <strong>the</strong>reby opposing <strong>the</strong> whirling. As a result, <strong>the</strong><br />

system is stable. Ground resonance cannot occur due to <strong>the</strong> higher whirling frequency<br />

resulting from forward whirling.<br />

In <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> Figure 4.29(b) <strong>the</strong> whirling is backward. To obtain <strong>the</strong> rocking frequency<br />

seen by <strong>the</strong> hull, <strong>the</strong> forward whirling frequency must be subtracted from <strong>the</strong><br />

rotor frequency. However, <strong>the</strong> whirling frequency is lower than <strong>the</strong> rotor frequency, so<br />

<strong>the</strong> whirling seen by <strong>the</strong> hull is still progressive. If <strong>the</strong> hull has a rocking resonance at<br />

this frequency, it will produce a force in anti-phase to <strong>the</strong> whirling as before. However,<br />

it will be clear from Figure 4.29(b) that at <strong>the</strong> instant depicted by <strong>the</strong> figure, <strong>the</strong> angle<br />

θ between hub and blade shank is decreasing. <strong>The</strong> force applied by <strong>the</strong> mast tends to<br />

decrease θ fur<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>reby augmenting <strong>the</strong> whirling. As a result, <strong>the</strong> system is unstable.<br />

Ground resonance occurs due to <strong>the</strong> lower whirling frequency resulting from backward<br />

whirling.<br />

In mechanical terms, <strong>the</strong> mechanical impedance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system has become negative,<br />

so that it can gain energy from forces that would o<strong>the</strong>rwise oppose motion. Negative

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