Chapter 2.

Composite blades

Composites are anisotropic materials and are chosen for designing a blade because the blade
stiffness and flex can be controlled by the specific layering direction and also they are less
expensive than metal rotor blades and are more reliable, repairable and have a longer life. Use
of composites in blade design improves aeroelastic response, reduces vibration and increases
fatigue life which helps in matching the actual blade performance with the original paper design
more closely than metal blades In military operations, composites provide better ballistic
protection [1]

Rotor blade manufacturing begins with the ultrasonic profiling of partially cured fibre
reinforced plastics. Many desirable properties and characteristics are achieved by the use of
composites such as good strength-to-density ratios (which are four to six times greater than
those of steel or aluminium), Specific modulus of certain composites is also far greater than
those of steel and aluminium. These improved properties lead to composite blades that are
lighter and stronger than their metal equivalents [2]

Recent blades are made of modern composite materials, such as fiberglass, carbon fiber or
Kevlar skin covering a foam or Nomex core. The strength of composites lies in the way they
are layered. Elastic tailoring of composite blades can be used to introduce kinematic couplings
more efficiently than in metal blades. Criss-crossed layers of fabric resist the propagation of
cracks. Failure mode occurs very slowly in composite materials. Composites also do not
corrode and have better strength-to-weight ratio so damage occurs gradually and their life limit
is higher compared to metals [3]

Kinetic couplings are being used as a basic design tool to improve the aeroelastic and
aeromechanical stability of conventional metal and composite rotor blades. Composite
materials possess higher strength-to-weight ratios and have resulted in blades which can outlast
the life of the airframe because of their long fatigue life and high corrosion resistance [4]
References

[1] The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) magazine 2010 edition

[2] Composite Materials and Helicopter Rotor Blades by Emma L. Williams

[3] Rotor&Wing International magazine ; Building a blade article by Frank Lombardi

[4] Stiffness Characteristics of Composite Rotor Blades With Elastic Couplings by David J.
Piatak, Mark W. Nixon and John B. Kosmatka

[5] D. Liu, Delamination resistance in stitched and unstitched composite planes subjected to
composite loading. J Reinf Plast Compos, 9 (1990), 59–69

[6] 1. W. J. Cantwell and J. Morton, The impact resistance of composite materials – a review.
Composites, 22 (1991), 347–62

[7] W. C. Chung, et al., Fracture behaviour in stitched multidirectional composites. Mater Sci
Eng A, 112 (1989), 157–73

[8] N. S. Choi, A. J. Kinloch, and J. G. Williams, Delamination fracture of multidirectional

carbon-fiber/epoxy composites under mode I, mode II and mixed-mode I/II loading. J Compos
Mater, 33:1 (1999), 73–100

[9] I. Verpoest, M. Wevers, P. DeMeester, and P. Declereq, 2.5D and 3D fabrics for
delamination resistant composite laminates and sandwich structure. SAMPE J, 25 (1989)

[10] D. J. Elder, R. S. Thomson, M. Q. Nguyen, and M. L. Scott, Review of delamination

predictive methods for low speed impact of composite laminates. Compos Struct, 66 (2004),
677–83

[11] D. J. Elder, R. S. Thomson, M. Q. Nguyen, and M. L. Scott, Review of delamination

predictive methods for low speed impact of composite laminates. Compos Struct, 66 (2004),
677–83

[12] J. M. Masters and K. L. Reifsnider, An investigation of cumulative damage development

in quasi-isotropic graphite/epoxy laminates. In Damage in Composite Materials, ASTM STP
775, ed. K. L. Reifsnider. (Philadelphia, PA: ASTM, 1982), pp. 40–62

[13] N. V. Akshantala and R. Talreja, A micromechanics based model for predicting fatigue
life of composite laminates. Mater Sci Eng A, 285:1–2 (2000), 303–13
[14] Wenbin Yu, Vitali V. Volovoi, Dewey H. Hodges, and Xianyu Hong§Georgia Institute of

Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0150