A one dimensional discrete approach for the determination of the cross sectional properties of composite rotor blades

Abstract

This work presents the theoretical aspects of a one dimensional computational approach for the determination of the cross sectional stiffness of composite rotor blades. The method is based on a vector variant of the classical lamination theory embedded into a geometrically exact large deformation-small strain thin-walled beam formulation, which is naturally oriented to multibody problems. The procedures rely on a one-dimensional discretization of the aerodynamic profile of the blade; this generates groups of finite segments of composite laminates which are assembled to find the stiffness properties of the blade cross section. The formulation accounts for warping of the cross section and transverse shear; the warping problem is solved numerically by means of a one dimensional finite element formulation. The numerical tests show that the formulation gives very accurate results.