Flap‐Lag Damping in Hover and Forward Flight with a Three‐Dimensional Wake

Prediction of lag damping is difficult owing to the delicate balance of drag, induced drag and Coriolis forces in the in‐plane direction. Moreover, induced drag” is sensitive to dynamic wake, bath shed and trailing components, and thus its prediction requires adequate unsteady‐wake representation. Accordingly, rigid‐blade flap‐lag equations are coupled with a three‐dimensional finite‐state wake model; three isolatcd rotor canfigurations with three, four and five blades are treated over a range of thrust levels, tack numbers, lag frequencies and advance ratios. The investigation includes convergence characteristics of damping with respect to the number of radial shape functions and harmonics of the wake model for multiblade modes of low frequency (< 1/ rev.) to high frequency (> 1/rev.). Predicted flap and lag damping levels are then compared with similar predictions with 1) rigid wake (no unsteady induced now), 2) Loewy lift deficiency and 3) dynamic inflow. The coverage also includes correlations with the measured lag regressive‐mode damping in hover and forward flight and comparisons with similar correlations with dynamic inflow. Lag‐damping predictions with the dynamic wake model are consistently higher than the predictions with the dynamic inflow model; even for the low frequency lag regressive mode, the number of wake harmonics should at least be equal to twice the number of blades.

Decoupled three-dimensional finite element computation of thermoelastic damping using Zener's approximation

We consider three dimensional finite element computations of thermoelastic damping ratios of arbitrary bodies using Zener's approach. In our small-damping formulation, unlike existing fully coupled formulations, the calculation is split into three smaller parts. Of these, the first sub-calculation involves routine undamped modal analysis using ANSYS. The second sub-calculation takes the mode shape, and solves on the same mesh a periodic heat conduction problem. Finally, the damping coefficient is a volume integral, evaluated elementwise. In the only other decoupled three dimensional computation of thermoelastic damping reported in the literature, the heat conduction problem is solved much less efficiently, using a modal expansion. We provide numerical examples using some beam-like geometries, for which Zener's and similar formulas are valid. Among these we examine tapered beams, including the limiting case of a sharp tip. The latter's higher-mode damping ratios dramatically exceed those of a comparable uniform beam.

An experimental approach for non-destructive evaluation of fatigue damage in CFRP composites

Study of fatigue phenomenon in composites requires a dynamic tool which can detect and identify different failure mechanisms involved. The tool should also be capable of monitoring the cumulative damage progression on-line. Acoustic Emission Technique has been utilized in the experimental investigations on unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite specimens subjected to tension-tension fatigue. Amplitude as well as frequency distribution of Acoustic Emission (AE) signals have been studied to detect and characterize different failure mechanisms. For a quantitative measure of degradation of the material with fatigue load cycles, reduction in stiffness of the specimen has been measured intermittently. Ultrasonic imaging could give the information on the changes in the interior status of the material at different stages of fatigue life.

Automatic identification of modal damping from Floquet analysis

A practical method is proposed to identify the mode associated with the frequency part of the eigenvalue of the Floquet transition matrix (FTM). From the FTM eigenvector, which contains the states and their derivatives, the ratio of the derivative and the state corresponding to the largest component is computed. The method exploits the fact that the imaginary part of this (complex) ratio closely approximates the frequency of the mode. It also lends itself well to automation and has been tested over a large number of FTMs of order as high as 250.

A note on the damping and oscillations of a fluid drop moving in another fluid

The oscillations of a drop moving in another fluid medium have been studied at low values of Reynolds number and Weber number by taking into consideration the shape of the drop and the viscosities of the two phases in addition to the interfacial tension. The deformation of the drop modifies the Lamb's expression for frequency by including a correction term while the viscous effects split the frequency into a pair of frequencies—one lower and the other higher than Lamb's. The lower frequency mode has ample experimental support while the higher frequency mode has also been observed. The two modes almost merge with Lamb's frequency for the asymptotic cases of a drop in free space or a bubble in a dense viscous fluid but the splitting becomes large when the two fluids have similar properties. Instead of oscillations, aperiodic damping modes are found to occur in drops with sizes smaller than a critical size ($\sim\hat{\rho}\hat{\nu}^2/T $). With the help of these calculations, many of the available experimental results are analyzed and discussed.

Defining the ‘modified Griffin plot’ in vortex-induced vibration: revealing the effect of Reynolds number using controlled damping

In the present work, we study the transverse vortex-induced vibrations of an elastically mounted rigid cylinder in a fluid flow. We employ a technique to accurately control the structural damping, enabling the system to take on both negative and positive damping. This permits a systematic study of the effects of system mass and damping on the peak vibration response. Previous experiments over the last 30 years indicate a large scatter in peak-amplitude data ($A^*$) versus the product of mass–damping ($\alpha$), in the so-called ‘Griffin plot’. A principal result in the present work is the discovery that the data collapse very well if one takes into account the effect of Reynolds number ($\mbox{\textit{Re}}$), as an extra parameter in a modified Griffin plot. Peak amplitudes corresponding to zero damping ($A^*_{{\alpha}{=}0}$), for a compilation of experiments over a wide range of $\mbox{\textit{Re}}\,{=}\,500-33000$, are very well represented by the functional form $A^*_{\alpha{=}0} \,{=}\, f(\mbox{\textit{Re}}) \,{=}\, \log(0.41\,\mbox{\textit{Re}}^{0.36}$). For a given $\mbox{\textit{Re}}$, the amplitude $A^*$ appears to be proportional to a function of mass–damping, $A^*\propto g(\alpha)$, which is a similar function over all $\mbox{\textit{Re}}$. A good best-fit for a wide range of mass–damping and Reynolds number is thus given by the following simple expression, where $A^*\,{=}\, g(\alpha)\,f(\mbox{\textit{Re}})$: \[ A^* \,{=}\,(1 - 1.12\,\alpha + 0.30\,\alpha^2)\,\log (0.41\,\mbox{\textit{Re}}^{0.36}). \] In essence, by using a renormalized parameter, which we define as the ‘modified amplitude’, $A^*_M\,{=}\,A^*/A^*_{\alpha{=}0}$, the previously scattered data collapse very well onto a single curve, $g(\alpha)$, on what we refer to as the ‘modified Griffin plot’. There has also been much debate over the last three decades concerning the validity of using the product of mass and damping (such as $\alpha$) in these problems. Our results indicate that the combined mass–damping parameter ($\alpha$) does indeed collapse peak-amplitude data well, at a given $\mbox{\textit{Re}}$, independent of the precise mass and damping values, for mass ratios down to $m^*\,{=}\,1$.

Synchronizing and Damping Torques Analysis of Nonlinear Voltage Regulators

This paper makes an attempt to assess the benefits of replacing a conventional generator excitation system (AVR + PSS) with a nonlinear voltage regulator using the concepts of synchronizing and damping torque components in a single machine infinite bus (SMIB) system. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in designing nonlinear excitation controllers, which are expected to give better dynamic performance over a wider range of system and operating conditions. The performance of these controllers is often justified by simulation studies on few test cases which may not adequately represent the diverse operating conditions of a typical power system. The performance of two such nonlinear controllers which are designed based on feedback linearization and include automatic voltage regulation with good dynamic performance have been analyzed using an SMIB model. Linearizing the nonlinear control laws along with the SMIB system equations, a Heffron Phillip's type of a model has been derived. Concepts of synchronizing and damping torque components have been used to show that such controllers can impair the small signal stability under certain operating conditions. This paper shows the possibility of negative damping contribution due to nonlinear voltage regulators and gives a new insight on understanding the physical impact of complex nonlinear control laws on power system dynamics.

Detection and Evaluation of Impact damage in CFRP Laminates Using Ultrasound C-Scan and IR Thermography

Advanced composite structural components made up of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) used in aerospace structures such as in Fuselage, Leading & Trailing edges of wing and tail, Flaps, Elevator, Rudder and entire wing structures encounter most critical type of damage induced by low velocity impact (<10 m/s) loads. Tool dropped during maintenance & service,and hailstone impacts on runways are common and unavoidable low-velocity impacts. These lowvelocity impacts induce defects such as delaminations, matrix cracking and debonding in the layered material, which are sub-surface in nature and are barely visible on the surface known as Barely Visible Impact Damage (BVID). These damages may grow under service load, leading to catastrophic failure of the structure. Hence detection, evaluation and characterization of these types of damage is of major concern in aerospace industries as the life of the component depends on the size and shape of the damage.In this paper, details of experimental investigations carried out and results obtained from a low-velocity impact of 30 Joules corresponding to the hailstone impact on the wing surface,simulated on the 6 mm CFRP laminates using instrumented drop-weight impact testing machine are presented. The Ultrasound C-scan and Infrared thermography imaging techniques were utilized extensively to detect, evaluate and characterize impact damage across the thickness of the laminates.

Damping and synchronising torques contributed by a voltage regulator to a synchronous generator: a quantitative assessment

In the paper, the total damping and synchronising torques, which determine the dynamic stability of a synchronous generator in a power system, have been traced to their origin. The positive and negative components released or consumed by the voltage regulator, and by the various windings of the machine, have been isolated, with the object of making a quantitative assessment of the effects of various gains and time constants on the dynamic stability of a synchronous machine under different operating conditions. The analysis is based on the properties of quadratic invariance in tensor calculus. An alternative solution by network analysis has also been provided to establish the validity of the tensor approach.

Fuzzy logic based TCSC supplementary controller for damping of inter area oscillations in power system

This paper describes an application of a FACTS supplementary controller for damping of inter area oscillations in power systems. A fuzzy logic controller is designed to regulate a thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC) in a multimachine environment to produce additional damping in the system. Simultaneous application of the excitation controller and proposed controller is also investigated. Simulation studies have been done with different types of disturbances and the results are shown to be consistent with the expected performance of the supplementary controller.

Ultrasonic evaluation of delamination in quasi-isotropic CFRP laminates subjected to low-velocity impact

Ultrasonic C-Scan is used very often to detect flaws and defects in the composite components resulted during fabrication and damages resulting from service conditions. Evaluation and characterization of defects and damages of composites require experience and good understanding of the material as they are distinctly different in composition and behavior as compared to conventional metallic materials. The failure mechanisms in composite materials are quite complex. They involve the interaction of matrix cracking, fiber matrix interface debonding, fiber pullout, fiber fracture and delamination. Generally all of them occur making the stress and failure analysis very complex. Under low-velocity impact loading delamination is observed to be a major failure mode. In composite materials the ultrasonic waves suffer high acoustic attenuation and scattering effect, thus making data interpretation difficult. However these difficulties can be overcome to a greater extent by proper selection of probe, probe parameter settings like pulse width, pulse amplitude, pulse repetition rate, delay, blanking, gain etc., and data processing which includes image processing done on the image obtained by the C-Scan.