A Unified Formulation of Rotor Load Prediction Methods

The relative merits of performing rotor load calculations using both Modal Summation and Force Integration techniques are discussed and their limitations exposed. A simple analysis, called the Unified Formulation Method, is devised which converts a Modal Summation approach into Force Integration when necessary. Application to lag damper modelling resulted in an improved correlation of edgewise bending moments near the blade root. Further use of this method is demonstrated for load calculations of higher mode torsional forcings induced by varying pitching moments of advanced multi-profile blades.