An experimental investigation of the flap-lag stability of a hingeless rotor with comparable levels of hub and blade stiffness in hovering flight

Abstract

An experimental investigation of the flap-lag stability of a hingeless rotor in hovering flight is presented and discussed. The rotor blade and hub configuration were selected such that the hub and blade had comparable levels of bending stiffness. Experimental measurements of the lag damping were made for various values of rotor rotational speed and blade pitch angle. Specifically at a blade pitch angle of 8 deg at three-quarters radius, the lag damping was determined over a range of rotational speeds from 200 RPM to 320 RPM and also over a range of blade pitch angles from 0 deg to 8 deg