Effects of magneto-rheological damper on helicopter air resonance

In order to investigate effects of magneto-rheological damper on helicopter air resonance, a magneto-rheological (MR) damper model for helicopter air resonance is developed in this paper. Simulation of this model is performed by integrating the designed MR damper model to the equations including dynamic inflow model under forward flight based on Pitt/Peters and dynamic equations of helicopter rotor/body coupling. Simulink is used to simulate the overall system and the time-varying curves of each degree of freedom and rank's mode, lag angle and frequency spectrum under trim and impulse, and amplitude envelope curves and damping of lag mode are obtained. Influences of MR damper on dynamic stability of helicopter air resonance and on rotor flap and lag under different voltages are analyzed. The results show that different voltages imposed on MR damper lead to different damping force, which can be used to suppress helicopter air resonance more efficiently.