High Stiffness Hub Assemblies for Rotor Systems

A rotor system for a rotorcraft, the rotor system comprising:

• a mast;
• a yoke having a plurality of blade arms and an upper surface;
• a plurality of rotor blades each coupled to one of the blade arms of the yoke;
• a constant velocity joint assembly providing a torque path from the mast to the yoke, the torque path including a trunnion assembly, a plurality of drive links and a plurality of pillow blocks, the trunnion assembly coupled to the mast and having a plurality of outwardly extending trunnions, each of the drive links having a leading bearing coupled to one of the trunnions and a trailing bearing coupled to one of the pillow blocks and each pillow block independently mounted between the upper surface of the yoke and a hub plate, the constant velocity joint assembly providing a gimballing degree of freedom for the yoke relative to the mast;
• and
• upper and lower hub springs, the upper hub spring disposed between the trunnion assembly and the hub plate, the lower hub spring disposed between the trunnion assembly and the yoke, the upper and lower hub springs configured to dampen movement of the yoke in the gimballing degree of freedom.