Tip end joint arrangement for a rotor blade with reconfigurable attributes for structural and aerodynamic tuning

A rotor blade configured to be installed on a rotary-wing aircraft, the rotor blade comprising:

• a main blade body comprising an inboard end configured to be coupled to a rotor blade hub and an outboard end;
• a blade tip removably coupled to the outboard end of the main blade body, the blade tip comprising an inner cavity;
• and
• a tip block comprising an inboard portion coupled to the outboard end of the main blade body and a cantilevered portion extending beyond the outboard end of the main blade body and into the inner cavity of the blade tip, wherein the cantilevered portion of the tip block comprises a first weight cup cavity configured to receive one or more weights for adjusting a balance of the rotor blade.

A rotor blade configured to be installed on a rotary-wing aircraft, the rotor blade comprising:

• a main blade body comprising an inboard end configured to be coupled to a rotor blade hub, an outboard end, a spar with an internal spar cavity, an upper blade skin, and a lower blade skin;
• a blade tip removably coupled to the outboard end of the main blade body, the blade tip comprising an inner cavity;
• and
• a tip block comprising an inboard portion coupled to the outboard end of the main blade body and a cantilevered portion extending beyond the outboard end of the main blade body and into the inner cavity of the blade tip, wherein the inboard portion of the tip block extends into the internal spar cavity and is coupled to the spar by a plurality of fasteners, and the upper blade skin or the lower blade skin includes an opening exposing an outer surface of the spar and surrounding the plurality of fasteners, each fastener comprising a fastener head, the rotor blade further comprising a retention plate positioned between the plurality of fastener heads and the outer surface of the spar.

A rotor blade configured to be installed on a rotary-wing aircraft, the rotor blade comprising:

• a main blade body comprising an inboard end configured to be coupled to a rotor blade hub, an outboard end, a spar with an internal spar cavity, an upper blade skin, and a lower blade skin;
• a blade tip removably coupled to the outboard end of the main blade body, the blade tip comprising an inner cavity;
• and
• a tip block comprising an inboard portion coupled to the outboard end of the main blade body and a cantilevered portion extending beyond the outboard end of the main blade body and into the inner cavity of the blade tip, wherein the inboard portion of the tip block extends into the internal spar cavity and is coupled to the spar by a plurality of fasteners, and wherein the main blade body is coupled to the blade tip by a tip rib, the tip rib comprising:
• a mounting bracket extending into the internal spar cavity;
• an upper flange coupled to an upper tip skin of the blade tip;
• a lower flange coupled to a lower tip skin of the blade tip;
• and
• a gap between the upper flange and the lower flange and extending between an upper portion of the mounting bracket and a lower portion of the mounting bracket, wherein the inboard portion of the tip block extends into the gap.