Vibrations of a Helicopter Rotor-Fuselage System Induced by the Main Rotor Blades in Flight

Based on a simplified model of the hub-fuselage structure, a theoretical analysis is made of the response of the hub and fuselage of a helicopter in flight to harmonic forces transmitted by the rotor blades to the hub both in, and normal to, the plane of rotation. The assumed structure is in the form of a plane framework with masses concentrated at the joints. Simple expressions are derived for the vibration amplitudes of the mass points as functions of the masses and natural frequencies of the hub and the fuselage. The pertinent nondimensional parameters are determined, and simple explicit conditions of resonance are derived. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the results.