The Influence of the Wake on the Flutter and Vibration of Rotor Blades

Abstract

Summary An approximate theory is described which takes into account the influence of the wake on the aerodynamic derivatives of an oscillating rotor blade. It is shown that the most important parameter is the number of cycles of the oscillation which occur during one revolution of the rotor. For integral values of this parameter the flexural damping is shown to become very small at small angles of incidence. The flutter characteristics of a simple rotor blade are calculated on the basis of this theory, and it is found that the wake causes radical changes in the critical speeds. The theory is in good qualitative agreement with experiment.