Influence of Propeller Blade Lift Distribution on Whirl Flutter Stability Characteristics

Authors: J. Cecrdle

Abstract:

This paper deals with the whirl flutter of the turboprop aircraft structures. It is focused on the influence of the blade lift span-wise distribution on the whirl flutter stability. Firstly it gives the overall theoretical background of the whirl flutter phenomenon. After that the propeller blade forces solution and the options of the blade lift modeling are described. The problem is demonstrated on the example of a twin turboprop aircraft structure. There are evaluated the influences with respect to the propeller aerodynamic derivatives and finally the influences to the whirl flutter speed and the whirl flutter margin respectively.

Keywords: Aeroelasticity, flutter, propeller blade force, whirl flutter.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1092004

References:

[1] E. S. Tailor, K. A. Browne, "Vibration Isolation of Aircraft Power Plants", Journal of Aeronautical Sciences, Vol.6, Dec 1938, pp.43-49
[2] W. H. Reed, Review of Propeller - Rotor Whirl Flutter, NASA Technical Report, NASA TR R-264, 1967
[3] W. H. Reed, S. R. Bland, An Analytical Treatment of Aircraft Propeller Precession Instability, NASA, Technical Note, TN D-659, 1961
[4] T. Theodorsen, General Theory of Aerodynamic Instability and the Mechanism of Flutter, NACA Report 496, 1935
[5] B. Smilg, L. S. Wasserman, Application of Three-Dimensional Flutter Theory to Aircraft Structures, Army Air Force Technical Report No.4798, 1942
[6] H. S. Ribner, Propellers in Yaw, NASA Rep.820, 1945
[7] H. S. Ribner, Formulas for Propellers in Yaw and Charts of the Side - Force Derivatives, NACA Rep.819, 1945
[8] J. C. Houbolt, W. H. Reed, "Propeller Nacelle Whirl Flutter", Journal of Aerospace Sciences, Vol.29, Mar 1962, pp.333-346
[9] W. P. Rodden, T. L. Rose, "Propeller / Nacelle Whirl Flutter Addition to MSC/NASTRAN", MSC World User’s Conference, Universal City, CA, USA, March 1989
[10] C. E. Hammond, H. L. Runyan, J. P. Mason, "Application of Unsteady Lifting Surface Theory to Propellers in forward Flight", AIAA Paper 74 419, 1974
[11] J. Cecrdle, "Analysis of Twin Turboprop Aircraft Whirl-Flutter Stability Boundaries", Journal of Aircraft, Vol.49, No.6, pp.1718 – 1725, Nov – Dec 2012, ISSN 0021-8669, E-ISSN 1533-1013
[12] J. Cecrdle, J. Malecek, O. Cerny, "Aeroelastic Analysis of Twin Turboprop Utility Aircraft", Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, May 2011, Vol.225 pp.585-594, ISSN 0954 4100, eISSN 2041-3025