Nonlinear response of a non-rotating rotor blade to a periodic gust

A rotating slotted cylinder (RSC) gust generator installed in the Duke University low speed wind tunnel was used to generate a gust excitation field, and the nonlinear response of a non-rotating flexible rotor blade to periodic gust excitations was studied theoretically and experimentally. The quantitative agreement between theory and experiment indicates that the assumption of an uniform chordwise gust angle of attack and an approximate solution procedure of the nonlinear equations are allowable for a high aspect ratio blade and the parameter range considered in this study. For a periodic gust flow field, the effects of geometric structural nonlinearity and aerodynamic nonlinearity on dynamic aeroelastic behavior are significant and lead to aperiodic or chaotic motion when stall occurs. © 1996 Academic Press Limited.

Duke Scholars

Author Earl H. Dowell Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materia ...