Research of Extension of the Life Cycle of Helicopter Rotor Blade in Hungary

Abstract : Combined measurements have been carried out at the Budapest research reactor, where the dimension of the radiography station was extended for the purpose the control the condition of helicopter rotor blades in the different period of their life time. High resolution radiography pictures were taken to find anomaly in the distribution of resin materials at the core-honeycomb-hull interfaces, failure at the "adhesive filling" and possible bondline flaws. Parallel to the radiographic visualization vibration tests using the method of statistic energy analysis (focused on damping and energy distributions and propagation) served for control of dynamic behavior of different aged structures. As a result of the work it is suggested that the combined application of the neutron-, X-ray radiography and vibration diagnostics might be a very useful method for the condition monitoring of helicopter rotor blades and other similar composite structures.