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Fatigue Substantiation and Damage Tolerance Evaluation of Fiber Composite

Helicopter Components

Article · February 2000

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ADP010642
rITLE: Fatigue Substantiation and Damage
Tolerance Evaluation of Fiber Composite
Helicopter Components

DISTRIBUTION: Approved for public release, distribution unlimited

This paper is part of the following report:

ITLE: Application of Damage Tolerance Principles

or Improved Airworthiness of Rotorcraft
9l'Application des principes de la tolerance a
endommagement pour une meilleure aptitude au
vol des aeronefs a voilure tournante]

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UNCLASSIFIED
 Fatigue Substantiation and Danmge Tolerance Evaluation
of Fiber Composite Helicopter Components
EL Bansemir, S. Emmerling
Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH
81663 Manchen, Germany

ECD-0C6-99-PUB

ABSTRACT technology. Thus the flapping and lead-lag hinges could be

eliminated. The innovative rotor design included new materials
Helicopter rotor systems are dynamically loaded structures such as titanium for the rotor hub and fiber glass epoxy for the
with many composite components such as main and tail rotor main and tail rotor blades. The substitution of the hinges was a
blades and rotor hubs. The new civil helicopter EC135 has a big step towards weight reduction and cost-saving due to the
bearingless main rotor system certified according to the 'Spe- reduction of parts. Another benefit of the rotor system was the
cial Condition for Primary Structures Designed with Compos- improved handling qualities and flight manoeuverability espe-
ite Material' of the German airworthiness authority LBA cially in gusty weather conditions. The pitching motion, how-
containing increased safety demands. This special condition ever, is still carried out using roller bearings, which require
addresses subjects like some effort in manufacturing and service.

"* demonstration of ultimate load capacity including consid- The first flight of the BKI 17 of MBB / Kawasaki Heavy In-
eration of manufacturing and impact damages dustries took place June 13, 1979. Since that time about 375
"* fatigue evaluation for parts suitable or unsuitable for dam- helicopters are flying worldwide. The rotor system of this
age tolerance method and the related inspection procedures helicopter is identical to the BOl05 except the rotor blade
"* investigation of growth rate of damages that may occur design which includes a different geometry but mainly
from fatigue, corrosion, intrinsic and manufacturing defects equivalent glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy composite materials.
or damages from discrete sources under repeated loads ex-
pected in service
"* residual strength requirements
"* consideration of the effects of material variability and
environmental conditions like hot/wet strength degradation
etc.
"* substantiation of bonded joints
The fatigue tolerance evaluation and damage tolerance sub-
stantiation for composite structures are shown in this paper.
The fulfillment of the 'Special Conditions' is demonstrated for
the main rotor blade of the EC 135.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
2. DYNAMICALLY LOADED ROTOR BLADES Figure 1: The Multi-Purpose Helicopters BO105 and BK1 17
3. QUALITY ASSURANCE METHODS APPLIED FOR
COMPOSITE ROTOR BLADES In 1991/92 Eurocopter started the development of the multi-
4. GENERAL CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AND purpose light twin helicopter EC135. The main rotor was
SUBSTANTIATION PRINCIPLES derived from the B0108 technology (Ref. [1-4]), whereas the
5. ESTABLISHMENT OF BASIC MATERIAL FATIGUE tailboom with the Fenestron anti-torque system was developed
AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE DATA by Eurocopter France. The first prototype carried out its
maiden flight in February 1994, powered by two Turbomeca
6. BASIC STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR Arrius 2B engines, whereas the second prototype began flight
7. DYNAMIC STRENGTH COMPONENT TESTING AND testing two months later, powered by the alternative Pratt &
DEMONSTRATION OF LIMIT LOAD CAPACITY Whitney PW206B engines.
8. SUMMARY
After extensive testing of three prototypes, structures and
systems and with the help of validated analysis, the type certi-
1. INTRODUCTION fication was issued in June 1996 by the LBA and in July 1996
by the DGAC and FAA. Since that date EC135 helicopters
In 1967 the BO105, a product of the former helicopter division with certified basic and optional equipment have been deliv-
of MBB, now Eurocopter Deutschland, flew for the first time. ered to customers all over the world.
Three years later this light twin helicopter was certified by the
German Luftfahrtbundesamt (LBA). Up to now almost 1500 2. DYNAMICALLY LOADED ROTOR BLADES
BO105 multipurpose helicopters have been manufactured and The basic design features of the multi-mission helicopter
are flying in more than 40 countries. The worldwide first serial EC135, a 3D drawing and the overall dimensions, are shown in
hingeless main rotor system was a key element of this heli- Figure 3 and Table 1.
copter, using the advantages of the newly developed fiber glass

Paperpresented at the RTO AVT Specialists' Meeting on "Application of Damage Tolerance Principlesfor
Improved Airworthiness of Rotorcraft", held in Corfu, Greece, 21-22 April 1999, and published in RTO MP-24.
3

11-2

. ' . A skilful design, however, allows the local separation of the

different tasks in the flexbeam.

Table 1: Main Characteristics of the EC135 with Arrius

Empty Weight of Aircraft 1465 kg 3230 lbs

Max. Take-Off Weight 2720 kg 6000 lbs
MTOW with External 2900 kg 6393 lbs
Load
Max. Continuous Power 2x 283 kW
FIgure 2: The New Multi-Mission Helicopter EC135 Take-Off Power 2x 308 kW
2.5 niin OEI Ix 411 kW
Rotor RPM 100-104 %
Blade Tip Speed 211-219 m/s
Max. Cruising Speed SL 257 km/h 139 kts
ISA
Never Exceed Speed SL 278 km/h 150 kts
104 l ISA
Hover in Ground Effect 4040 m 13250 ft
Hover Out of Ground 3100 m 10200 ft
Effect
Rate of Climb 8.4 m/s 1650 ft/min
i Maximum Range 620 km 335 nm
Maximum Endurance 4:33 hrs

SI Main Rotor Blade

2 Swashplate
3 Main Rotor Hub-Shaft
4 Rotating Control Rod
5 Driving Unit
6 Standard Hub-Cap Support
7 Standard Rotor Hub Cap

Figure 3: 3D-View Drafting of the ECI35

Main emphasis was laid on the design of the dynamic compo-
nents in order to achieve unlimited life with high flaw toler-
ance. Thus the direct operating costs can be reduced. Most of
the components were designed for on-condition maintenance.

One of the most significant development features of the ECI 35

is the Bearingless Main Rotor (BMR) shown in Figure 4. The
BMR shows a 50 kg weight reduction and 40 % less parts 5 4 3 2 1
count compared to the BOl05 rotor. The fully composite
design (fiber glass and graphite epoxy) has characteristic fail
safe design features such as a blade root attachment of the
flexbeam consisting of two double lugs and a two load path
attachment of the tuning masses to the blade. The flexbeam of
the BMR shows an equivalent flapping hinge offset of about Figure 4: The Bearingless Main Rotor System with
9% of the blade radius. The rotor is a soft inplane design. The Elastomeric Dampers
elastomeric damping devices provide sufficient inplane
damping and the system control cuff - flexbeam - control rod
produce adequate pitch-lag coupling [4]. The blade and its inner part are shown in the Figures 5 and 6.
It is a GFRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic) prepreg design
Whereas the rotor hub of the EC135 has an exceptionally using E-Glass and a 120 0C epoxy system. It consists of unidi-
simple design, the structure of the blade root has become rectional tapes orientated in the longitudinal direction. These
rather complicated as it has to take on the tasks of the hinges are mainly responsible for the longitudinal and bending stiff-
and bearings of a conventional rotor. This blade root is also nesses and carry the greatest part of the centrifugal force and
called flexbeam and is the key element of the bearingless rotor. the bending moments, whereas the ±450 layers in the shear
 11-3

web and the blade skin have to carry the greatest part of the The total mass of the blade is almost 40 kg including about
shear loads including torsional moment. 7.5 kg of additional masses for the tuning of frequencies and
the reduction mainly of the lead-lag bending moments.

These tuning masses are locally built in at several radius sta-

tions. Apart from the blade tip mass, they are enclosed by
thermoplastic casings. Great care was taken to ensure a fail
safe fixation of these masses in the blade structure, as they
locally generate high additional centrifugal forces. Each of two
separate load paths can completely transfer the loads. Besides
ce-eetonelvimor large-sized bonding areas being the first load path the masses
Pkoit, cO.wffle
Ies are completely surrounded by blade structure, lugs, C-profiles
etc., so that the centrifugal forces can also be totally carried via
form-locking, even if the bonding had failed.

Main emphasis was laid on an excellent fail safe behaviour not

only of the tuning masses but also of the complete rotor blade.
The following table summarizes some of its characteristic

3.2 features [3,4].

Table 2: Characteristic Fail Safe Design Features of the

I Pkhbol cuw EC135 Main Rotor Blade
wit Pitch Horn
1.2 Tranition Ar"
1.3
WA. Flexbearn
'A Sandwic Cc n - Complete spar including flexbeam manufactured in one
2 AMolSection shot
3 3.1
1e BWade
lo Fitting Area . - 2 'double lugs' at the blade attachment
3.2 SoftFlpping Section
3.3 Soft Torsion SecO 2. Control Cuff
(i.. f, xbeam) - Integral with blade skin
3.4 &otLead-lag Section
- Double shear bonding of control cuff halfs
-Form-locking design and double shear bonding of the
Figure 5: The Blade of the Bearingless EC135 Main Rotor connection to the pitch lever

3. Connection Control Cuff and Flexbeam (R = 1172 mm)

-2 load paths: a) large bonding areas
D Dampe•..n-- A.- _b) form-locking design
Mases
Tu••.ning
I4
-2 load paths: a) large bonding areas
b) masses completely enclosed by
supporting structures

Figure 6: Blade Attachment Area with Control Cuff and 3. QUALITY ASSURANCE METHODS APPLIED FOR
Dampers COMPOSITE ROTOR BLADES

At radius station R = 110 mm the blade is connected with the At Eurocopter Deutschland computed tomography (CT) is
help of two bolts to the rotor hub. The loads are transferred via used for the quality assurance of the rotor blades of BOl05,
two double lugs at the relatively stiff blade attachment area. A BK1 17 and EC135 17], see Figure 7 and Figure 8.
tapered transition area leads to the flat 'flapping hinge' section. For the EC135 blades CT was also used during the design
This section has to allow the flap angles by bending, phase and has been performed for each blade at the beginning
of the serial production.
shifted to the
In the following transition area the layers are
cruciform shape of the torsional element. This has a short Originally CT was developed for the medical field. To create a
length of about 0.5 m and replaces the blade bearings. Its slim cross section image, an X-ray beam rotates around the object
and deeply slit cruciform cross section results in an extremely in a complete circle. From several projection directions at-
low torsional stiffness of the flexbeam of 4.2 NmP/ without tenuation profiles of the beam are measured. With these data a
and of 7.2 Nm/f with centrifugal force. computer calculates the image of the cross section slice having
the thickness of the X-ray beam of about 1.5 mm. During the
The cruciform shape of the torsional clement has special ad- rotor blade examination cross section images are produced at
vantages. Warping restriction can be avoided, and the flapping various radius stations. When these stations are close together,
and lead-lag stiffnesses can be tuned independently from each e.g. in the lug area, vertical and horizontal cuts in radial direc-
other. In addition the relatively high flapping stiffness of the tion can also be computed.
torsional element reduces the static sag of the non-rotating
rotor. Therefore no blade stop is needed.
 11-4

CT is a very effective non-destructive testing (ND]) method to

check the quality of fiber composite parts. Damages or defects
like cracks or waves in the laminate of at least 0.2 mm size can
be detected. By the determination of special CT numbers the
local material density can be established. Thus e.g. it can be
checked if dark spots in a cross section consist of resin or
critical air inclusions. With the help of CT, the manufacturing
quality of the EC135 blade could be improved significantly.

A test specification for the EC135 main rotor blade describes

in detail, in which area which kinds of damages are allowed. If
a new type of damage occurs seeming to be eventually critical,
a component test is performed. This test has to prove, if the Figure 7: Non-Destructive Testing of the BOI05/BKI17
damage affects the life of the structure. When it does, this Attachment Lug Area by Means of Computed To-
damage is not accepted for the serial blade quality. mography

Figure 8: Non-Destructive Testing of the EC135 Main Rotor Blade with Manufacturing Defects at an Early Development Stage
by Means of Computed Tomography

4. GENERAL CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS defects or damages from discrete sources under repeated
AND SUBSTANTIATION PRINCIPLES loads expected in service
e fatigue evaluation for parts suitable or unsuitable for dam-
The EC135 has been certified according to Joint Aviation age tolerance method and the related inspection procedures
Requirements JAR27 'Small Rotorcraft'. However, as the * residual strength requirements
primary structure includes composite materials, the German * consideration of the effects of environmental conditions
airworthiness authority Luftfahrtbundesamt issued a Special and material variability
Condition 'Primary structures designed with composite mate- 9 substantiation of bonded joints
rial' that had to be fulfilled additionally. The special condition
adresses subjects like
In general the fatigue substantiation of dynamically loaded
"* demonstration of ultimate load capacity including consid- structures is based on the Safe Life procedure. As derived and
eration of manufacturing and impact damages stated in the Helicopter Fatigue Design Guide (see also [5]),
"* investigation of growth rate of damages that may occur the service life is determined from the usually applied sub-
from fatigue, corrosion, intrinsic defects, manufacturing stantiation procedure:
 11-5

- Establishment of a safe fatigue strength working curve 110

- Derivation of load spectrum from inflight measurements 90
- Calculation of the service life by means of Miner's linear
damage accumulation hypothesis. - 60

In accordance with the fatigue evaluation of Transport Cate- A"

gory Rotorcraft Structures FAR29.571 (Table 3) multiple load 40
paths were established whenever possible. SO,
20
Table 3: Fatigue Evaluation of Transport Category Rotorcraft 10
Structure (Including Flaw Tolerance) according to 0 1o, le 101
FAR29.571 Load Cycles
[FATIGUE TOLERANCE EVALATION [ Figure 9: SIN-Curve for Torsional Angle of the Flexbeam

Ufa Eva.o otem" Eve"Muom 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF BASIC MATERIAL

W FlFATIGUE AND DAMAGE TOLERANCE DATA
-ufe Fw it Slow Faw The material stiffness and strength properties of the fiber
Load Palh ] (RwFlaW
p)] Orowlh F r composite materials were measured at ECD itself with the help
of standardised coupon tests. The basic unidirectional stiff-
Ac ne u Poupon and
spMw"mnesses
strengths were determined by long and short beam
LoadPathcoupon
1-00iPath specimens.
For the static strength sibstantiation interlaminar failure had to
For the dynamically loaded EC135 rotor blade the Flaw- be avoided up to limit load. Up to ultimate load, however, no
Tolerant Safe Life Method was used for substantiation. In fiber failure was allowed. The strength degradations due to
addition fail safe features were incorporated into the design to high temperature and moisture had also to be taken into ac-
ensure sufficient residual strength capability after flaw growth. count. For the fatigue strength substantiation room temperature
The composite structures were predamaged with the help of conditions could be used. For the residual strength test with
impactors up to 25 Joule. limit load after fatigue test the hot/wet degradation had to be
considered again. As the blade is a fail safe structure, B-values
The no-crack-growth ability of the fuselage composite parts could be taken for the substantiation [8].
was demonstrated by tests.
Table 4 describes the tested
material specimen types, the
The rotor blade of the EC135 is an integrated composite hot/wet conditions for the EC135 certification and the pro-
structural element with multiple load paths in several areas and ceeding for the use of the allowables agreed with the certifica-
for several load cases. In Figure 10 blade sections are shown tion authorities.
with the critical load and failure situation. The blade sections Table 4: Material Properties and Environmental Conditions
with intrinsic, manufacturing and impact damages were tested
with dynamic loads. With the help of the performed tests S/N
working curves for the flexbeam were established. 1. Material stiffness and strength properties determined
by coupon tests:
The S/N-curve expressed in amplitude values is represented by a) bending specimens (long beam type)
the following relation: b) shear specimens (short beam type)
SAAf - SA- 2. Environmental conditions
5 5
Aoo)
A' a) 75'C and 85% relative humidity (hot/wet conditions)
ex l b) room temperature conditions for fatigue strength
a )substantiation

where SA. is the endurance limit, SAut the ultimate value, N 3. Allowables for material strength
the number of cycles and a, 03are the shape parameters for the a) Ultimate load and residual strength
adjustment of the curve [5]. - hot/wet conditions
- rl decisive (fiber crack)
The S/N-curve for torsion of the flexbeam is shown in Figure - No interlaminar failure (riLs) allowed up to limit load
9. b) Flight loads
- room temperature conditions
The flight tests yielded the necessary load spectra. A complete - B-values for substantiation of blade as fail safe
spectrum contains the working loads (High-Frequency- structure
Spectrum) and the GAG loads (Ground-Air-Ground-
Spectrum). The damage ratios and the resulting lives of the
structures were calculated according to Miner's linear damage
accumulation hypothesis.
 11-6

IATTAO4NNT
I
'am"
CUT.i
FLAPP?O
HINGE
mro
AL I CUFF ICONNECTION
A. SECTIION
CUSNTOFF-KAN4

WMIOG TORSIO BENING EOWINO~ CCMAL LOAD I

TORSION TSGI" W4 FALURE

Figure 10: Critical Load / Failure Areas of the EC135 Main Rotor Blade

As seen in Figure 10, the sections of the rotor blade are loaded
in different ways. As the rotor blade cannot be tested dynami- Delamination Mode I: * w
cally as complete structure, several sectional areas were tested
according to their critical load and failure behaviour. Thus for
each section S/N-curves were derived and transformed to P.a
working curves taking into account 99.9 % survivability and
95 % confidence level.

As also seen in Figure 10 the root of the blade is mainly El

loaded either by bending or by torsion. The failure modes of p
the blade were established with the help of structural dynamic
tests.
Delaminations due to torsional and bending stresses are im- Delamination Mode II: Delamination Mode III:
portant failures, which are studied by means of coupons and
structural parts. In Figure 11 the three delamination modes I,
II, and III are shown. By design the delamination mode I was
eliminated if possible. Basic equations for bonded and tapered
joints are derived in Figure 11. The relation between the trans-
ferable stress a1 and the peak shear stress xT was analysed by
means of the classical shear-lag theory and by fracture me-
chanics. For bonded joints the fracture mechanic property Gn
is proportional to thickness of the adhesive and the square of
the peak shear stress divided by the shear modulus of the
adhesive [8, 9, 10].
a , ,,
To establish experimentally the energy release rates for
mode I, mode II and mixed mode I/I a variety of test speci- \E G
mens as shown in Table 5 have been developed [121.

Comparative investigations between the Transverse Crack

Tension TCT and End Notch Flexure ENF test configuration =t E 1 =,nG_..t 1
[15] showed a much better aptitude of the TCT specimen to "9 2 .(t1 +t) =rt(t V -+t 2t 1 2)
indicate the static and dynamic delamination behaviour of
unidirectional composites. Compared with the ENF specimen F" Et, -
the TCT specimen is less complicated in fabrication and the al . E.t , -P . , (, + 2)
tests include no shear deformation and no frictional effects
which can be observed with the ENF tests. Especially while
investigating the crack growth behaviour the TCT test has the G C 2 G,. , 2 tg-
advantage of maintaining an energy release rate independent I , 2 " G,•
from the crack length which is not true for the ENF tests, Figure 11: Delamination Modes of Overlaps and Joints and

In opposite to the TCT specimen with inner fiber interruption Relevant Delamination Formulas for Mode iI
as shown in Table 5 a modified TCT specimen with outer fiber and III
interruption shown in Figure 12 was created to investigate the
mixed mode I/Il.
 11-7

Table 5: Tests for Experimental Determination of Energy pure delamination mode II, whereas the specimen with outer
E
Release Rates for Mode 1, Mode 1iand Mode InI fiber interruption takes the influence of mode I on mode 1Iinto
consideration.
Mode Sign / Designation Tezt Configuration The delamination stress au (upper value) for the stress ratio
I DCB R = 0.1 versus load cycles is shown in Figure 13 for the outer
double cutilever e fiber interruption. The specimens for establishment of this
beam curve were fabricated of E-Glass/913 unidirectional prepreg
material, which is used for the flexbeam of the EC135 heli-
"copter.The delamination onset curve is described by the four
11 TCT parametric Weibull formula:
transvense crack 0
tension l
transverse crack ______Ig with
tension-compression TCT N....ogN)unl exp
H SBS
schort beam shear
Ultimate Delamination Stress Oult
, Delamination Endurance Limit Crum
1
Curve parameter a
Curve parameter 13
ENF
end-notched flexure

1n CLS
cra k iskp
shearII 11 1 , 1 11 1 1111

IB
I Hl

1111 EDT
edge delamination
trIsion
EOTC
edge delamination \".J Loadcda N H
tension-compression
Figure 13: S/N-Curve for DetImination Strength of Unidirec-
I/Il HDT tional E-Glass/913
hole delamination
tension •'The relation between the stress all and the energy release rate
HDTC ( =...') Gil with the specific parameters of the tested specimen reads:
hole delamination ".J2
tension-compression 1 0 h -t
Gil =- .. . with
4 E h-t
Inlf EMT
edge notch tension Young's modulus E = 41.5 GPa.
ENrC . Specimen thickness h = 1.25 mm
edge notch .. Thickness of interrupted plies t = 0.25 mm
tension-compression
The delamination growth rate was determined for materials
widely used in the helicopter structures of ECD. The loga-
rithmic linear relationship between the delamination growth
rate da/dN and the energy release rate Gnl in the range of stable
FI delaemination growth was derived from the test results. The
range of stable delamination growth is bounded by the thresh-
old value of G0tsh and the critical value Gnc. Below Guth there
is no crack propagation and above Gu, 1 the crack grows in-
Figure 12: Modified TCT Specimen with Outer Fiber stantenously.
Interruption
da Gn with c and n being material constants
For the analysis of delamination initiation and delamination dN ilmax describing the position and the slope of
propagation due to dynamic tension loads TCT test specimens the curve.
with inner and outer fiber interruption shown were used. The
test specimen with inner fiber interruption corresponds to the
 11-8

Figure 14 shows the delamination growth rates versus energy delamination endurance limit a,, which can be transformed
release rate for E-Glass/913, carbon T300/913 and R- into the critical and threshold value Gil, and Gnh respectively.
Glass/913 UD prepreg materials. In general it can be deducted
from the gradient of the curves that materials with higher Table 6: Critical Energy Release Rate Gil for Several
stiffness show more sensitivity of the crack propagation ve- Unidirectional Composites
locity against increasing cyclic energy release rate.
Unidirectional Young's H T Critical Energy
Material Modulus Release RatwGic
, [Wa1 [nmn] [mm] [N/m]
,J,•E-lss9l3 41.5 1.3 "0.26 gir -

| ,JmE-Glass/ 91rwith 4.31 7 .4 .26 _ 1W4

Bonding Layer
T300 / 913 126.4 1 0.26 7

Table 7: Delamination Onset and Propagation Curve Para-

'loft m Mom,
meare/•
W@ emeters
Figure 14: Delamination Growth Rate da/cN, versus Energy
Release Rate Gn jatF.ei lm Pa]l a.[Pa]l m H-]IP 1- 1c [*11In H I
IT300/91
I 15 89S4 13.161.91.S2493
Figure 15 which is taken from (12] shows the comparison of l7= .1741 13.9151
the carbon fiber materials T300/914C and M40/Code69. Here * Dimension of c: [(m/Nt)".mm/load cycle]
this trend can be seen more clearly due to the higher difference
in modulus between the two fiber types. In addition a differ-
ence in the threshold and critical value of Gn is obvious. The 6. BASIC STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR
higher the modulus is, the higher is the threshold and the
lower is the critical value of Gil. That is, the band between the For the blade design, the cross section characteristics were
threshold and the critical value of Gn becomes narrower. Thus calculated at various radius stations with the help of a two-
the endurance limit comes closer to the static strength with dimensional finite element (FE) program. This ECD own code
increasing stiffness of the material. This effect can also be computes the six different stiffnesses corresponding to the
observed in the fatigue curves of high modulus carbon fibers. force and moments in the three coordinate directions. Addi-
tionally it also calculates the normal and shear stress distribu-
tions for any load combination. Figure 16 shows a typical FE
modelization of the airfoil section.

Figure 16: Cross Section FE Model of the Airfoil Section

This FE analysis yields good results. However, it assumes that

, the cross section remains constant over a greater length.

In order to determine additional stresses e.g. due to strong

Figure 15: Delamination Growth Rate da/dN versus Energy cross section variations or special load introduction areas, such
Release Rate Gn according to [12] as the glass fiber lug the fixation with the help of a titanium
fitting, are treated by special tools and calculation procedures.
In Table 6 the test results for the critical energy release rate
Gn, are listed for E-Glass/913, T300/913 and T300/MI8. In A critica! load situation of the BK 117 root area is the dy-
addition the value for E-Glass/913 with an additional layer of namic lead-lag motion. The interaction between the glass fiber
adhesive between the continuous and interrupted layers is composite loop and the titanium fitting due to centrifugal force
shown. This intermediate bonding layer ameliorates the criti- and lead-lag-moment was modelled in finite elements. The
cal value substantially. This effect can be easily transferred stresses in the composite loop were calculated with the pro.
into design solutions to improve areas prone to delamination, gram system MARC in an iterative process. The contour of the
The comparison of the two resin systems for the carbon lamni- titanium fitting was optimised in order to reduce stress peaks
nates emphasizes the importance of the resin properties for the in the loop.
delamination strength of fiber composite components.

Table 7 summarizes the curve parameters of the delamination

S/N curves and the crack propagation curves of E-Glass/913,
R-Glass/913 and T300/913. The links between the both types
of curves are the static delamination strength crh and the
 11-9

order to determine the criticality to the overall strength be-

haviour of the blade root [15J.

7. DYNAMIC STRENGTH COMPONENT TESTING

AND DEMONSTRATION OF LIMIT LOAD
CAPACITY

It is not possible to test a complete blade realistically at all

possible load combinations in a testing machine. Therefore the
4 blade was subdivided into several components each of them
being tested under its critical load conditions. For each test
"type several specimens with intrinsic, manufacturing and
impact damages were tested at different load levels. The im-
W • pact energy for flexbeam and control cuff was 25 J. This
Figure 17: B0105/BKi 17 Blade Root Glass Fiber Loop and means a 2.5 kg impact mass falling from I m height.
Titanium Fitting For the static ultimate load tests the influence of high tem-
.. .... perature and moisture had to be taken into account according
to the 'Special Condition'. The strength degradation was
i determined by coupon tests, see chapter 4. i',e stai -. -
nent tests were then performed at room temperature with loads
. . "increased by the hot/wet degradation factors. The maximum
loads were simultaneously applied to cover the worst case
possible.
2 After the fatigue tests residual strength tests had to be per-
formed. Limit load capacity was proven there, also including
3 load amplification factors to simulate hot/wet conditions.
Table 8 summarises the process for the component tests taking
into account the requirements of the 'Special Condition'.
These tests were the basis for the life calculations.

Table 8: Process for the (Sub-)Component Tests

F4

-.... ..... 1. Component specimens

Figure 18: Transverse Stresses in the Loop due to Lead-Lag - Specimens with intrinsic, manufacturing and
Bending Moment impact damages
2. Tests
For the Flexbeam of the EC 135 a three-dimensional Finite - Separate component tests for critical areas
Element (FE) model was developed in order to determine - Constant amplitude tests at different load levels
additional stresses e.g. due to strong cross section variations. - Test monitoring
- Documentation of: Type of damage
Damage begin
Size
Location
Growth rate
3. Residual strength test with predamaged specimens
after fatigue test
- Proof of Limit Load capacity
- Load amplification factor to simulate hot/wet
conditions

Figure 20 shows a bending specimen of the flexbeam in its

upper and lower test position. It is pretensioned by a centrifu-
gal force of about 150 kN and simultaneously loaded by flap-
ping and lead-lag moments (number a of the flexbeam tests
from above). At the left side the blade attachment area is
Figure 19: Three-Dimensional FE Model of the Prototype clamped into a fork simulating the rotor hub. At the right side
Flexbeam two hydraulic cylinders introduce the maximum transverse
Furthermore flaws, which had been detected in component forces and flapping and lead-lag moments simultaneously.
tests, were introduced into the three-dimensional FE-model in This test mainly simulates the load conditions between blade
attachment and 'flapping hinge'.
 11-10

During the development phase the flexbeam was continuously test was only limited by the capacity of the testing machine.
improved and the S/N-curve concerning bending could be This test proved the outstanding qualities of the EC135 flex-
raised by about 20%. beam.

8. SUMMARY

During the last decades the former helicopter division of MBB

and now Eurocopter Deutschland has consequently developed
the main rotor systems towards simplification, improved
reliability, increased life, lower weight and reduced service
and maintenance costs. It started with the hingeless rotor of
the B0105 and continued to the bearingless rotor of the
EC135. However, this became only possible.by using the
outstanding qualities of glass fiber composites with regard to
strength and flexibility.
As the certification authorities demand for an improved dam-
age tolerant behaviour, especially for dynamically loaded
structures, basic damage tolerance material data were studied.
The basic delamination growth data for several unidirectional
Figure 20: Flexbeam Specimen Loaded by Bending Moments fiber/epoxy combinations were determined with the help of
and Centrifugal Force TCT test specimens. The gained database allows sizing of
dynamically loaded flexbeams. The load case of flap bending
corresponds to the mode Il whereas the torsional load case
corresponds to mode III. The outstandingly low crack growth
behaviour of composite materials and improved methods of
S.
quality assurance, such as computed tomography (CT), reduce
4 life cycle costs and improve the structural safety of helicopters
remarkably.

Figure 21: Flexbeam Unloaded

Figure 22: Flexbeam Loaded by Centrifugal Force and

Twisted by 100

The torsional capability of the flexbeam was proved in another

test sequence. Figure 21 shows the specimen unloaded. The
cuff is almost completely removed. At the right side the blade
attachment area of the flexbeam is clamped. (To the left it is
followed by the flat 'flapping hinge' and the torsional element
with its slit cruciform cross sectimi.) In Figure 22 the speci-
men is pretensioned by a centriugal force of 150 kN and is
twisted by 1000. This means a torsional angle of 2*/cm length
of the torsional element. The specimen showed no failure, the
 11-11

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