Composite Laminate Aircraft Rotor Assembly Load Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft rotor assemblies face challenges in managing the complex loading conditions, particularly centrifugal and flapping forces, which existing technologies struggle to resolve effectively, leading to inefficiencies and potential structural issues.
Innovation Solution
The use of a composite laminate rotor assembly, comprising graphite and epoxy materials, is designed to address these loading conditions by incorporating a C-channel hoop element and tapered plate elements that absorb and distribute forces in-plane, allowing for pitching, flapping, and leading/lagging of rotor blades while maintaining structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional rotor assembly structures are used, then manufacturing and assembly are simpler, but the ability to manage complex centrifugal and flapping loading conditions is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor assembly employs a composite laminate structure comprising multiple layers of carbon fiber reinforced polymer materials. This composite construction provides superior strength-to-weight ratio and anisotropic mechanical properties that enable the structure to withstand complex centrifugal and flapping loads while maintaining reasonable device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor assembly is divided into distinct functional segments including blade elements, spar caps, and skin sections. Each segment is optimized to handle specific loading conditions, with the composite laminate layers oriented at different angles to resist particular stress components, thereby improving overall reliability without excessive complexity
2Strength
If the rotor assembly structure is simplified, then manufacturing is easier, but structural integrity under complex loading is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The composite laminate is designed with varying fiber orientation angles, layer thicknesses, and material properties through different sections of the rotor assembly. This parameter optimization allows the structure to achieve required strength and stiffness under complex loading while maintaining manufacturability through standardized composite fabrication processes
3Reliability
If composite laminate is used to resolve loading in-plane, then centrifugal and flapping loads are better managed, but weight of the rotor assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The composite laminate structure implements local quality optimization by varying the fiber orientation, layer composition, and material properties in different regions of the rotor assembly. High-strength configurations are applied only where required by the loading conditions, while lighter constructions are used in low-stress areas, thereby managing loads effectively without unnecessary weight increase
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft is provided and includes an airframe, a blade disk, which is rotatable relative to the airframe, including a plurality of rotor blades, a rotor shaft disposed to drive rotation of the blade disk relative to the airframe and a pitching of each of the rotor blades about corresponding pitch axes and a rotor assembly configured to form couplings by which each of the rotor blades is coupled to the rotor shaft. The rotor assembly includes a composite laminate arranged to resolve loading associated with the couplings in-plane of the composite laminate.