Rotor Track and

Balance

Product Support
ACES Systems/TEC Aviation Division
support@acessystems.com
06/06/2011 #1
 Overview
Rotor Balance
Types of Balance
Equipment
Installation
Data Acquisition and Making
Adjustments
Troubleshooting

06/06/2011 #2
 Rotor Balance
What is an imbalance?
Advantages and disadvantages
Causes of imbalance
Other sources of vibration

06/06/2011 #3
 Rotor Balance
What is an imbalance?
A condition where there is more weight
distributed on one side of a rotating
component than on the other side

06/06/2011 #4
 Rotor Balance
Advantages
Simple
Cost efficient
Cost effective

06/06/2011 #5
 Rotor Balance
Disadvantages
Noise
Vibration

06/06/2011 #6
 Rotor Balance
Causes of Imbalance
Manufacturing tolerances
Shimming and alignment
Rotor track
Static track
Dynamic track

06/06/2011 #7
 Rotor Balance
Rotor Track
Static track
Perfect track if all blades produce the same
lift
Assumes that blade twist, profile, and
stiffness are equal on all blades
Assumed then to give equal lift on all
surfaces of the blade

06/06/2011 #8
 Rotor Balance
Rotor Track
Dynamic track
How the rotors fly during operation
More important to sacrifice a perfect tip
path track for a rotor that is perfectly
balanced

06/06/2011 #9
 Rotor Balance
Other Sources of Vibration
Mechanical looseness
Misalignment
Track
Worn bearings

06/06/2011 #10
 Types of Balance
Dynamic track and balance
Purpose of balancing
Types of imbalance

06/06/2011 #11
 Types of Balance
Dynamic Track and Balance
First introduced in the late 1950s
Operators found that virtually all statically
balanced rotors were out of balance
dynamically when installed.

06/06/2011 #12
 Types of Balance
Purpose of Balancing
Static
Knife edge
Suspended arbor
Bubble balance

06/06/2011 #13
 Types of Balance
Purpose of Balancing
Dynamic
Performed during operation
All of the rotating components are balanced
as an assembly

06/06/2011 #14
 Types of Balance
Types of Imbalance
Mass imbalance
Distribution of the mass
Spanwise or chordwise
Aerodynamic imbalance
Out-of-track condition exists

06/06/2011 #15
 Types of Balance
Benefits to Dynamic Balance
Enhance comfort
Reduce wear
Increase safety by reducing component
stress
Lower operating costs

06/06/2011 #16
 Equipment
Sensors
Tach sources
Vibration measurements
Amplitude and phase

06/06/2011 #17
 Equipment
Sensors
Accelerometers
Displacement sensors
Velocity sensors

06/06/2011 #18
 Equipment
Accelerometers
Measure acceleration
Typically reported in gs
More sensitive to higher frequencies
Directly related to force caused by
unbalance
Used in balancing
(after conversion to velocity or
displacement)

06/06/2011 #19
 Equipment
Displacement Sensors
Measure change in position
Typically reported in mils (.001 of an inch)
peak to peak
More sensitive to Low frequencies
Directly related to movements due to
imbalance
Seldom used in balance (however,
displacement units are often used)

06/06/2011 #20
 Equipment
Velocity Sensors
Measure velocity
Typically reported in IPS peak
More sensitive to medium frequencies
Directly related to energy from
imbalance
Often used in balance

06/06/2011 #21
 Equipment
Sensor Construction
OUTPUT CONNECTOR
AND AMPLIFIER
PRELOAD
SCREW

SEISMIC MASS
PIEZOELECTRIC
ELEMENT IN
COMPRESSION

PEDESTAL
BASE

06/06/2011 #22
 Equipment
Tach Sources
Magnetic pickup
Phototach

06/06/2011 #23
 Equipment
Magnetic Pickup

06/06/2011 #24
 Equipment
Phototach

06/06/2011 #25
 Equipment
Vibration Measurements
Amplitude and phase
Correlation between the trigger of the tach
source and the time until the sensor
registers the maximum amplitude.
The result will be a phase angle in degrees
or time (clock angle)

06/06/2011 #26
 Installation
Sensor
Tach Source
Tip Targets

06/06/2011 #27
Installation
Sensor

06/06/2011 #28
 Installation
Tach Source

06/06/2011 #29
 Installation
Tip Targets

06/06/2011 #30
 Installation
Optical Tracker
Optical devices obsolete tip targets

06/06/2011 #31
 Data Acquisition and Making
Adjustments
Polar plotting
Automated solutions
Rotor track and balance
Rules

06/06/2011 #32
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Polar Plotting
IPS and phase
values are taken
from the analyzer
and manually
plotted on charts
to obtain a
correction.

06/06/2011 #33
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Automated Solutions
The analyzer is used to collect the phase
and IPS readings then calculates a
solution
The calculated solution is then
implemented by the user eliminating
manual calculations

06/06/2011 #34
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Rotor Track and Balance
Pitch links
Tab
Sweep
Tip weight
Hub weight
Blade chordwise weight

06/06/2011 #35
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Pitch Links
Changes the lift of the blade by adjusting
the angle of attack at the rotor hub
Characteristically changes the tip path plane
throughout speed range
Characteristically has large drag changes
resulting in a strong effect on lateral
balance

06/06/2011 #36
Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Pitch Links

Eurocopter SA330 Puma AgustaWestland

AW139

06/06/2011 #37
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Tab
Changes the lift of the blade by adjusting
the twist in the blade aerodynamically
Characteristically changes the tip path plane
at higher airspeeds
Characteristically has small drag changes
resulting in little affect on the lateral
vibrations

06/06/2011 #38
Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Tab

Eurocopter EC135 AgustaWestland AW139

06/06/2011 #39
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Sweep
Changes the balance of the rotor head by
adjusting the center of mass
Characteristically changes the mass at all air
speeds
Characteristically it has little effect on the
lift of the rotor and the vertical vibration

06/06/2011 #40
Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Sweep

Bell 206 Series Sweep Adjustment

06/06/2011 #41
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Tip Weight
Changes the mass of the rotor head by
adjusting blade weight
Characteristically no change to tip path
plane
Characteristically has a large effect on
lateral vibration

06/06/2011 #42
Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Tip Weight

M/R MI 8/17/24 Tip Weight Adjustment T/R

06/06/2011 #43
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Hub Weight
Changes the mass of the rotor by
changing rotor head mass
Characteristically has large effects on the
lateral vibration
Characteristically has no effect on tip path
plane

06/06/2011 #44
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Tip Weight

BO 105 M/R Hub Weight - Hollow Bolt EC155 M/R Hub Weight - Washer

06/06/2011 #45
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Hub Weight

Bell 407 T/R Irregular Bell 206 Series T/R Regular

06/06/2011 #46
 Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Blade Chord Weight
Changes the center of gravity of the
blade
Characteristically changes tip path with
changes in collective force
Characteristically has large effects on
verticals
Characteristically has large effects on
laterals at ground/hover and in letdowns

06/06/2011 #47
Data Acquisition and Making Adjustments
Blade Chord Weight

Bell 407 Chord/Product Weight

06/06/2011 #48
 Troubleshooting
Polar Plotting - Human error
Worn components
Structural resonance

06/06/2011 #49
 Troubleshooting
Polar Plotting
Human Error
The result of an
adjustment increases
the IPS or the
moveline 180 degrees
out

06/06/2011 #50
 Troubleshooting
Worn Components
A specific vibration
level is achieved and
continued
adjustments result in
IPS levels that do not
change and phase
angle walks around
the chart.
A large amount of
weight added to a
location results in no
change in IPS or phase

06/06/2011 #51
 Troubleshooting
Structural Resonance
Unrepeatable
reading
Adjustments result
in varying results
Phase angles and IPS
levels are very
erratic and
unpredictable when
known good
solutions are
implemented.
06/06/2011 #52
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