Split blade frictional damper
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJeff Harley Miller, Gary Alan Davis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved frictional damper for a rotor blade is positioned inside a cavity in the airfoil section of the blade. The cavity includes an elongated, generally radially-extending opening that divides the airfoil into two sections and an elongated opening transverse to and intersecting the radial opening. A damper placed within the cavity frictionally engages the resulting sections of the airfoil, thereby reducing the vibratory stresses on the blade as a whole.
Claims21
An airfoil portion of a blade on a rotor assembly comprising:
- a body defining a cavity opening through an exterior surface thereof, said cavity defining at least two airfoil sections of said airfoil;
- and
- a damper inserted into said cavity to limit relative motion between said airfoil sections during operation of said rotor assembly, thereby limiting vibratory stress on said blade.
A damped rotor assembly comprising:
- a shaft which rotates about an axis of rotation;
- a disk on said shaft;
- a plurality of blades extending radially outward from said disk at angularly spaced locations;
- said blades having an airfoil portion defining a cavity that intersects an exterior surface of said blade;
- said cavity defining at least two airfoil sections of said airfoil;
- and
- a damper inserted into said cavity to limit relative motion between said airfoil sections during operation of said rotor assembly, thereby limiting vibratory stress on said blade.
A method of damping vibrations in a blade of a rotor assembly comprising:
- providing a cavity in an airfoil portion of said blade that opens through an exterior surface of said airfoil portion, said cavity defining at least two airfoil sections;
- providing a damper in said cavity;
- rotating the rotor assembly including the blade;
- and
- limiting relative motion between said airfoil sections during rotation of said rotor assembly, thereby limiting vibratory stress on said blade.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.