WIND TUNNEL TESTS OF AN OPTIMIZED, MATCHED STIFFNESS RIGID ROTOR

Abstract

A 10-foot-diameter model of a new type of rigid rotor was tested in the Freon atmosphere of a transonic dynamics tunnel at simulated speeds up to 263 miles per hour. Configurations having 3, 4, and 6 blades with zero blade twist and a 4-blade configuration with six degrees of negative twist were tested. A flexure system eliminated the usual feathering bearings. While a true matched stiffness rotor would have flapping and in-plane stiffness matched along the full length of the blade, the system tested had stiffness matched only in the blade flexure region. The tests were successful, and this new type of rigid rotor appears to offer substantial advantages over previous stiff in-plane rigid rotors by reducing: rotor weight, gyro weight and drag, hub drag, control forces, and mechanical complexity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1964
Accession Number
AD0612011

Entities

Organizations

  • Lockheed Martin

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Army Aviation
  • Control Systems
  • Drag
  • Dynamic Pressure
  • Frequency
  • Gages
  • Mach Number
  • Measurement
  • Physical Properties
  • Resonance
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Strain Gages
  • Transportation
  • Vibration
  • Wind Tunnel Models
  • Wind Tunnel Tests
  • Wind Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Structural Dynamics.