Pnpcr N° 91

E · 16

THE COAXIAL HELICOPTER VIBRATION REDUCTION.

DR. B.N.BuRTSEV,
KAMOY HELICOPTER SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY COMPANY,

RUSSIA.

ABSTRACT
Theoretical and flight test results are presented.
It is shown that substantial reduction of alternating
forces acting on a helicopter structure and reduction of
vibration level are achieved by selection of coaxial rotor
optimum configui~ation.

1. INTRODUCTION
The problem of the helicopter vibration level reduction
is most i)'l'i.portant 'loday. A lot of technical appr-oaches has
been adopted lor the saJne as:

-aet~oelastic:. blade design;

-pendulum type vibJ~ation absorbe1~s for the blad~

root sect.ion;

-vibroisolali1·1g n~in r-otor and reduction gear

mounts;

-active vibratiot1 level reduction systems

C HHC , I BC ) •

The results of investigaliort in the field of tl1e

vibration level reduction, HHC and IBC systenlS in
particular, were published in many p-apers and contain
analyt.ical models, wind tunnel and flight lest data [ 2-14l.
Tl·1e presented paper is devoted to tl·1e formulation ar1d
solut-ion of lbt! coaxial helicopter· vibt~atiorl lev~l r~duction
problem.

2. THE FORMULATim~ OF THE PROBLH~

At fig.1 there are plotl8d alle1··r1alirlg foJ~ces acti.r1g

upon Lilt.-' coaxial rotors hubsf transmitlt::c-d via Lht~ m..-1i r1
rotors and the r'eductor g~ar· shafts and causing tht?
helicoplt~T vibr'alion. For· the sake tJf simplicity let us
examirte only lhf2' vertical .allt~r-nating for·ces:. upon lhe;o uppt.::or·
rotor hub CFu) and lower rola1·· l1ub CFL) acting al LJ·1e blad8
frequency 3w and corresponding phases l'u and 'l'L. At
fig.1 there are presented the location of the blades in
respect to each other, the direction of the upper and lower
rotor rotation as well as the lower rotor No.1 blade azimuth
<hu = wt and the upper rotor No.1 azimuth 1'1U = wt + <f>
Some 25 years ago our engineers fol'mulated a simple but
rather goog idea by changing the difference of the
alternating forces phases C~u - il'L) on the upper and lower
rotors to make these forces act in a. counter-phase thus
reducing the total alternating force and the helicopter
vibr-ation level.
This appoach was verified at the Ka-25 helicopter
flight testing in 1968.

3. FLYING TEST BED

Flying lest bed based on a helicopter was tested in

different main r·otor~s system. configurations. Nan1ely, 'P angle-
determining the upper rotor blade lead over th~
corresponding lower r-otor blade was set at different values
C1·ef. fig.1 ).
At a zero lead angle tp=O the corresponding lower and
uppet' rotor blades "meet" at a zero azimuth at the back in
the helicupler longituditlal plane. Wl1en tl·1e angle is r1ot
zero rp > 0 'lhe blades of the upper and lower rotors come
one over the other at the left fi~om the helicopter synunetr·y
plane at an azumut..h 1-;/2 in the direction of lhe upper
rot.or rotation. At the cl1ange of tt1e uppet~ rotor blade
positior1 in respect to that of tl1e lower rotor blade the
differ·ence of the alternatir1g focces acting upon the upper
and lower~ rotot~ is also changed.
The flight test results of the Ka-25 h~.:;licopt_~r·

pt··esent.eJ .at fig. 2. It lrtay be s•:..·en that the ar!"!plitudt.?

of
the ver·tic:3l vibr·ational ae:celt:-r·ations e:ons.Lder·ably dep2nds
upon the lead angle value at the flight speed app1~oac.:hing
the maximal and decreases by 3 . . . 4 t im•.?S in COiHpar-ision to
ll1at of ll1e basic corlfiguralio11.

4. ~.-IATHEMATlCAL HODELLING

The results: obtained by modelling the ver·tic.al

altet~nat.ing forces on the coaxial t~otor· hubs some
ir1lt:>r·8s.l.
The ULYSS-6 genet~al nLalhem.alic:al model of lh12 coaxial
rt)lor system has beera used whict1 was descr·ibed by ll·1e autor
in his pap~~r pr·1:?Sf"":o'nted at the 17th Eur·opian Rotor·cr·;)ft For·um
in 1991 [ 1 l .
The model represents the following aeror=-laslic factur·s :

-nonlinear motion 1!!quat.ions. :J.nd bound:.l!~y

condilior1s for the 6-bladed coaxial rolo1·
including t_he joint ~~las.tic bl.-::~.de r·oot tor-~:;i.on ai.
a flexible COI1lt··ol lir1kage;
 -coaxial r·oloi' vor-tex blade modl:.·l;

-aerodynamic dala of lht? airfoil .i.t1 .a compr'essib.lt.?'

air' flow and a dynamic stall based on lhe I'esul Ls
of testit>g in a stationar-y str-eam and testing of
oscillating airfoil in the wind tunnt?-ls;

-rigid fuselage .

Tl·1e 1·esulls of vertical altert1aling fot'C~s calculation

using the ULYSS-6 ar·e shown at fig. 3, 4.
At the left side of fig.3 lt1ere at'e presented tl1e
calculated vector diagrams ol the vertical alter-nating
forces Fu and FL acting at a blade frequency 3w upor1 tt1e
coaxial rotor hubs. A set. of vector pairs is prest?nled whet'e
each pair cor-responds to some definite value of the lead
angle C p ). The vectors turn angle Fu, FL is equal to the
blade azimuth when the 3w frequency vertical forces reaches
its maximum value. Tbt:- vector length is equal t.o the
alternating load maximum value.
I t may be seen that the upper rotor force as
an azimuth function depends l i t t l e up011 the location of
blades i11 respect to each other (angle p ) .
The lower rotor fot'ce FL C 4L ) amplitude depends
consider-ably upon r:~ . The ,;. phase is cl·1anged too. The
L
fot~ce vectot' turns in the direction of the upper t'otor
rotation approximately at. an angle +'/2. The vector· "follow"
the points whez'e the upper rotoz~ bl.a,J0 tip vot~texes 1neet
with t-he lower r·ol.or blades
The sum..m.ary ver·tical for·c:e tJf tht::o two t~otoJ-s
tl·.ansmitted lo the fuselago .is shown at the r·ighl side of
fig. 3. The sulmning up takes account of the upper· and lower·
r-otor blades location in r·espect to each oth~r- determined by
a :L) angle. The sumrnary c:alculatt;:od for-{:.:8 has lh-2 lt-ast.
amplitude at p =60 degrees. At fligl·1t testi1·1g tl·1e lowest
v~r·tical vibr·alioi1 level was obser·ved ~l p ~ 30 deg.
Cr-ef. fi9. 3).
San11? calculations were d011e also for a simpli tied
nonvot'tex coaxial r·olot- system modE.•l i.e. with ;).n induct i V(?
fl.ow constat·1L all over the disc. Tl·10Se results arE:'? presented
al fiq 4. ·It. may be seen that 3w frequency alternating
forces values on the blades l1ave gr·owrt ]jy about 1.5 limes:o
the force phases do not. depend upon the location of the
blades in respect to each other. However· the summary forces
the smallest also al p =60 deg.

5. THE KA-50 HELICOPTER FLIGHT TEST RESULTS

At·t a r-eal fligl·tt side ar1d lor1giludir1al aller·r1aling

forces of 3wfr0quer1cy also act upor1 t~1e J·~~~licol)ler· alo1·1g
with lhe ver-tical for~ces which complicatt::-s tl·H2! .<H1clly~:.i.s..
Howevet' we n~rtage to acl1ieve a low vil)rati.or1 level al Kamov
ht~licopter-s.. Th•? blade a0roelas.Lit:: design ZJ.nd Lh1::- bl.<1d0
r1alur-a1 fr·equ(:.-ncy ar·t: r~ather· illlpor·tanl fa,_::L(Jt~s i.n solving
the vibr-ation pt'oblem ..
Fig.5 preset1ls ll1e vibraliotl level of out·· laslesl
ht?licopter Ka-50 . I'l ro..a.y be obser-ved t.h.at. the v.ibr·aliun
level alung all three .axises-ve-r'lical, longitudinal and
side-is ratl1er low.

6_ CONCLUSIONS

The investigalions carried out in t.he field of

aeroelasticily and vibt~.ations .at the Kamov Helicopter S&TCo.
pemi t to a chi evt2' a 1 ow level of out~ coaxial
helicopters

7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The aulor expr-esses his sincere gratitude to the KanvJv

engineers contributing to the invesligation and discussion
ot' the r-esults: Mt-.A.Z.Vot'onkov, Hr. B.P.Sobol,
Hr .. G.Y.Jakemenko.

R ~ r £ R ~ N C ~ S

Bur ~s2v,B. N., "A-::?::.:·c.. e(a.stl~C~ ty of h'e~ ic~·_c_.teJ.··

,C::.otor", P-::·oceedic·Lg of t.-:.....e 17th £urc,c;6:-a..n.. ,:;._:::_,tcn-c;;,··r.::.._ft
Ber-L i.-,·.~, Sept. c:..;·-27, t£·Qt, pp ...F35--:.:S2.
,:,eJ:·:r:..arLy,

2. Gu,or<. :., c..

P. ~ "BLade Desi n,e Pcra.'~--'2 L rs :.._~h ~eli. ..;ff~-c t
< ,-)..-.., '
h'o-:?Ltcopr_e't' VtC . l"'at ion...s", 4-0th A;:.n;._..:.c:..l.. A.'i-:'S F . :.. l-·.1:'., ,'-;'..:.:.·v J. :::>.::-....:-.

r:.o. 207-2 i 7.

3. I. ?apo.uc:..s-s:'~ Lto~..r, P. ?. F:t'i.edr:ta.J·~n. C . Ve·i'L.\c;.:tesr.:;....-~, ••,-.:_.:__.:._lol..ed

Rotor/r'u..sel..aee Vib.r-at ion P..ed'u.c t ton L/st:.-~8 Nul.. t 1~p[e FJ:·&q~..:.en.c.y
BLa.d.~? Pitch Cont:col.n, Proceedine of the l7th £1.1.t·o-;:...•t?-:::J~
R.otorcro-ft Foru.;rt, Ber·L in, Ger·rtta.ny, Sept. 24-.:.::7, t99t,
pp. 76. t-76 ..-J:-4,

4. Reic.heJ:·t, G. "h'el. i.coptt!:'i' 1/ibJ:'·o.t. i(YtL C.J:.,,.~u_-o;_ -,·1

\/E•t'tica, Vol..5, ,\\::; t. pp. 1-20. 19-Si.

5. Lc~~).J.-'Y•P.G . ''Hel. i.cc·pter Vi brat icn.: A Tr~,.:_ hJtO J. C:~·:· l r:: C l.

P&rsp&c f.. i. u~::-", AH5 .Jo,..rY·rtc.l, VoL. 29, No . -~, Oc Lob~.~·l' 1984, pp . ..:--3CJ.
6. h'am, N., "h'el..i.copter Individual.-Bl..ade-Con.t.rcl. and 1Cs
AppLications" 39th Ah'S Foru..·n.. St. Louis, Nissc-1n~i. Nc.y 19S3.

1. R.iche2 .. , P., £isbrech..er, h'. D. o.r-td Kl.oppel., V.. ..Desin8 c~;d

FLie;ht Tests of Indiuidual. BLade Control. Actuator's",
Proceedine of !..he 16th Euro.~--ean Rotorcraft Fo:: .. Wll., Gl.asec~:.).
U.K., Sept. i8-2t,t990,pp. t t i . 6. t-11 t. 6. 9.

8. Chopra, I. , and _7. L. i"tcCLoud. HA Nun'<..e:::iccL Si.m.ul.aticn Stt.:dy

of Open-Loor:--·, CLosed-Loop and Adapt t_,_)e N·ul. t lcycl. Lc Con.. t~ .. ol.
S:.~s t en'.S", Ah'S _]ourna7.., Vol.. 28, i'lo. i , _lan..-uary 1983, p,c. 63-77.

9. Robinson, L., c.nd Friedmann. P. P. , ''A Study, of FuYldcvrten[o..l.

Issues in Hieher Har·nwni.c ControL Lls-in.e; Aercetastic
Sim.ul.at ion, "AN5 _1o-urnal., Vol.. 36, No.2, Apri L1991, pp. 32-43.

1(). Lehn"-a.nn,G., .. Th.e Effect of h'iehe::.. h'a..rmonic Co;·":..Lr·ol. Ch'h'C)

t_"';n. a Fc··ur-Bl.od.es Nihg·el..ees h'odel. Poto·l''", Vert Lee. VoL.:;,',
i"io. 3, 19.&5, .c....c. 273-2.:34

and Tec.L,R.,
i-..'u.~··t:•tortic CorttJ.~.:.:,L: hlin..d T·u.nneL De ...'tOi'tst.::··c.ticn of Fu.LL~.'
~ffec t.. i)_'e Vi.b~··at.cry J-t'-u. l:.., Fo2··ce Supp~~ess-ic:n," Ah'S ..Journc.~,
~-'c,z.. 34~ :\\:_,_ 1, _,'a_r~ur.:.t.T":>li·;.".:iB9, pp. 14-25.

Pe>t:..-e::.··s, ..J. J-l. , C Li !'1.~"" , _;. h'. ,

Con t .::··c· ~

t3. Niao,l·/. cn·u.J Frye, H. i'·t. , .. Fl. i eh t Derru::.>r(.s- t l'·a t ion. oj Hi ~"':..1'-:~S-::
Ho.rn:.c.'n Lc Contr·ot (/1HC) on. S-76", 42nd AJ-lS F C.J r ·,.J.rt~..,
\ilush i r~.-::; t_ on, D. C. .June 1986.

14. Pol.ychrcn.i.c.dis, N. O..tuJ. Achache, h'. , ''h'ieh.eJ.~

Contl·ul: FLieht Tests of an E::·(peY· i. men. L a.l. S~; s. L ,;:tft
F::c;.s-=.-a.rch G(:.z&L Le", 42nd AJ·{S Po~···u.:h, hlushitLeton, D. C.,
t 9E:6.
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Fta_i Tt-E: SIMPt(.ST DiAGRAM SHO'MNG THE AL f£RNAT!NC FORCES

ON Tt-£ COA)(!AL ROTOR HVSS.

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V£RTICAL AND SIDE VJBRAT!ONS DEPENOING UPON THE HEUCOPTt:R KA-50

FL YII'K) SPEED.

Flo.5