Dynamic-stall and structural-modeling effects on helicopter blade stability with experimental correlation

The effects of blade and root-flexure elasticity and dynamic stall on the stability of hingeless rotor blades are investigated. The dynamic stall description is based on the ONERA models of lift, drag, and pitching moment. The structural analysis is based on three blade models that range from a rigid flap-lag model to two elastic nap-lag-torsion models, which differ in representing root-flexure elasticity. The predictions are correlated with the measured lag damping of an experimental isolated three-blade rotor; the correlation covers rotor operations from near-zero-thrust conditions in hover to highly stalled, high-thrust conditions in forward flight. That correlation shows sensitivity of lag-damping predictions to structural refinements in blade and root-flexure modeling. Moreover, this sensitivity increases with increasing control pitch angle and advance ratio. For high-advance-ratio and high-thrust conditions, inclusion of dynamic stall generally improves the correlation.