Structural Integrity Assessment of Helicopter Rotor Blade

A helicopter main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings (rotor blades) and a control system that generates the aerodynamic lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust that counteracts aerodynamic drag in forward flight. A comprehensive study of the vibration phenomena includes determining the nature and extent of vibration response levels and verifying theoretical models and predictions. The main aim of this project is to extract the normal modes of a Helicopter’s Main Rotor Blade and compare them for different materials such as Aluminum, Steel, Titanium and Composite using the finite element method. As using the modal analysis alone we cannot conclude the better material, static structural analysis is carried out using gravity loads to further give knowledge about the behavior of the blade in different material conditions, and there by evaluating the integrity of the design by this process.