Composite flexure for tiltrotor rotor system

摘要

A composite flexure that secures a rotor blade to a gimbaled yoke in a tiltrotor rotor system. The composite flexure includes a composite flexure member, a first end, and a second end. The first end of the composite flexure couples the composite flexure to the gimbaled yoke, and the second end of the composite flexure couples the composite flexure to the rotor blade. The composite flexure is twisted when the composite flexure is not subject to torsional loads in order to accommodate various forces imparted on the rotor system.

主权项

1. A tiltrotor aircraft, comprising:
a body; a wing member; a power train coupled to the body and comprising a power source and a drive shaft in mechanical communication with the power source; and a rotor system coupled to the wing member and in mechanical communication with the drive shaft, at least part of the rotor system being tiltable between a helicopter mode position and an airplane mode position, the rotor system comprising:
a gimbaled yoke in mechanical communication with the drive shaft;a rotor blade having a single, uninterrupted blade body extending from a root end to a tip end and having a hollow cavity therein, the hollow cavity having an open end and a closed end opposite the open end, the rotor blade comprising the root end and an attachment location disposed within the hollow cavity and located outboard of the root end, the rotor blade being twisted such that an angular difference exists between the chord of the rotor blade at the root end and the chord of the rotor blade at the attachment location; anda composite flexure comprising a composite member disposed completely within the hollow cavity of the rotor blade, the composite flexure coupled to the gimbaled yoke at a first end and coupled to the rotor blade at a second end, wherein a first attachment plane associated with the first end is angled relative to a second attachment plane associated with the second end such that the composite member is twisted at a composite-flexure twist angle between the first end and the second end when the composite flexure is not subject to torsional loads, the composite-flexure twist angle between the first end and the second end corresponding to the angular difference between the chord of the rotor blade at the root end and the chord of the rotor blade at the attachment location.