Dynamic stability of a bearingless circulation control rotor blade in hover

The aeroelastic stability of flap bending, lead-lag bending and torsion of a bearingless circulation control rotor blade in hover is investigated using a finite element formulation based on Hamilton's principle. The flexbeam, the torque tube and the outboard blade are discretized into beam elements, each with fifteen nodal degrees of freedom. Quasisteady strip theory is used to evaluate the aerodynamic forces and the airfoil characteristics are represented either in the form of simple analytical expressions or in the form of data tables. A correlation study of analytical results with the experimental data is attempted for selected bearingless blade configurations with conventional airfoil characteristics

Calculated Hovering Helicopter Flight Dynamics with a Circulation Controlled Rotor

The influence of the rotor blowing coefficient on the calculated roots of the longitudinal and lateral motion was examined for a range of values of the rotor lift and the blade flap frequency. The control characteristics of a helicopter with a circulation controlled rotor are discussed. The principal effect of the blowing is a reduction in the rotor speed stability derivative. Above a critical level of blowing coefficient, which depends on the flap frequency and rotor lift, negative speed stability is produced and the dynamic characteristics of the helicopter are radically altered

Further studies of stall flutter and nonlinear divergence of two-dimensional wings

An experimental investigation is made of the purely torsional stall flutter of a two-dimensional wing pivoted about the midchord, and also of the bending-torsion stall flutter of a two-dimensional wing pivoted about the quarterchord. For the purely torsional flutter case, large amplitude limit cycles ranging from + or - 11 to + or - 160 degrees were observed. Nondimensional harmonic coefficients were extracted from the free transient vibration tests for amplitudes up to 80 degrees. Reasonable nondimensional correlation was obtained for several wing configurations. For the bending-torsion flutter case, large amplitude coupled limit cycles were observed with torsional amplitudes as large as + or - 40 degrees. The torsion amplitudes first increased, then decreased with increasing velocity. Additionally, a small amplitude, predominantly torsional flutter was observed when the static equilibrium angle was near the stall angle

Flap-lag-torsion flutter analysis of a constant life rotor

The constant lift rotor (CLR) employs a control input of pitch moment to several airfoil sections which are free to pivot on a continuous spar, allowing them to change their pitch to obtain the desired lift. A flap-lag-torsion flutter analysis of a constant lift rotor blade in hover was developed. The blade model assumes rigid body flap and lead-lag motions at the root hinge and each strip undergoes an independent torsional motion. The results are presented in terms of root locus plots of complex eigenvalues as a function of thrust. The effects of several parameters (including structural damping, center of gravity and elastic axis offset from aerodynamic center, compressibility pitch-lag and pitch-flap coupling) on the blade dynamics are examined. With a suitable combination of lag damper and pitch-flap coupling, it is possible to design a constant lift rotor blade free from flutter instability

Nonlinear dynamic response of wind turbine rotors

The nonlinear equations of motion for a rigid rotor restrained by three flexible springs representing the flapping, lagging and feathering motions are derived using Lagrange's equations for arbitrary angular rotations. These are reduced to a consistent set of nonlinear equations using nonlinear terms up to third order

Transient Thermal Diffusion in Conical Bodies

A numerical solution has been obtained for transient thermal diffusion in a cone in which chemical, electrical or nuclear energy at a constant rate. An implicit method is used to set up the finite difference equations and detailed analysis is carried out to trace the time history of the temperature distribution from the initial stages to the steady state. The effect of the rate of heat generation on the time required to reach steady state thermal distribution has also been depicted

Transient Heat Transfer in Composite Solids with Non-Linear Boundary Condition

Transient heat transfer in composite media with non-linear radiation boundary condition has been studied by implicit finite difference scheme. It is observed that as the diffusivity ratio decreases there is more transfer of heat from radiating surface towards the non-radiating surface

Growth of Hydromagnetic Shock Waves

In this technical note we consider the influence of a transverse magnetic field on the formation of a shocks wave in an electrically conducting field. We conclude that the presence of a transverse magnetic field is Conducive to the growth of compression waves and the decay of the expansion waves