force of a blade strike

Slobberdog

Well-Known Member
Out of intrest,

Guys is there anyone who could tell me what the force of a blade strike would be at the tip of the blade on a 700 class heli,

I have tried but not sure on my results.
 

idon'tknow!

rc-help EXPERT.......????
let me see this could be interesting... i will let you know in 10 years once I finished the math. What headspeed 2200?
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
This is a very complex question, unfortunately. There is blade deflection at the pivot upon impact, the fact it is rotating instead of moving in a straight line, the mass of the blade is not distributed evenly across the blade, motor on or off at time of impact, the whole heli is moving at some speed at the time of impact which will change the instaneous velocity of the blade at impact relative to the object being hit and where in the rotational period the impact occurs, etc. etc. etc.

Let's simplify things: assume no blade deflection at impact (totally rigid blade mounting), a 2 blade head, assume the 1/2 the mass of the blade is in the tip and part of the impact (attempt to compensate for the distribution issue), no heli velocity (strike in hover or on the ground).

As a starting point, it's not impact force, but a starting point is kinetic energy of the blade at the tip.

E = 1/2 m v^2 = .5 * (2 * 1/2 * .5kg) * (1.5m * 2200rev/min / 60sec/min) = .5 * .5kg * 55m/s = 13.75J

I used 2 * blade mass because the other blade's rotational energy will be transmitted into the strike as additional effective mass due to the rigid mounting and equal blade length on each side of the rotor.

Next, we need to know how far into the struck object the blade will wedge itself before coming to a stop. We will assume constant deceleration.

W = F s, where W is Work/Energy, F is deceleration force (aka force over the impact length), and s is the distance from impact to stop.

W = E, so:

F = E / s = 13.75J / s

Assume the blade stops in 2cm or .02m:

F = 13.75J / .02m = 687.5N

This stopping distance can be displacement into the struck object, it can be travel due to damage to the blade into an immovable object, etc. And we see, the impact force is inversely proportional to the distance after impact. This is why car makers started putting crumple zones in, the longer you can space that impact out the less effective force the occupants will experience and thus less injury on average.
 
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Slobberdog

Well-Known Member
Good explanation mate, I like it, its quite a force to be hit by, wouldn't you say and that's before you add in any fwd velocity of the heli,

Person I was trying to explain to earlier did not think a heli ( toy ) could do much damage, he nearly jumped a mile when he heard my 450, I said now multiply that by 10 and you might get close to the roar of a 700.

As we have seen lately these things can be lethal,

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When you think a hammer blow exerts approx 180N the heli blade wil hit you at 3+ times that force, its frightening I recon.
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
And it is a blade slicing in as opposed to a blunt force. I've said it before and I'll say it again: You may as well be flying a running mower deck in terms of lethality and safety risk.

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And my math could be totally wrong. I'm notorious for thinking I've got stuff like this figured out right and being totally wrong. :)
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
And it is a blade slicing in as opposed to a blunt force. I've said it before and I'll say it again: You may as well be flying a running mower deck in terms of lethality and safety risk.

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And my math could be totally wrong. I'm notorious for thinking I've got stuff like this figured out right and being totally wrong. :)

Who cares, it looks impressive. :)
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
See, I knew I screwed something up. v is supposed to be velocity. I forgot pi...

v = Circumference * rpm / 60 = pi*diameter * rpm / 60 = 3.14 * 1.5m * 2200 / 60 = 172.7m/s


And I forgot to square v in E calc.... oy....

E = .5 * m v ^ 2 = .5 * .5kg * 172.7 ^ 2 = 7456.32J

F = E / s = 7456J / .02m = 372800N

Or if blade stops in 15cm: 7456J / .15m = 49707N
 

Slobberdog

Well-Known Member
A pair of align 690 mm blades is 350grammes

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My wrought and ready calcs came out at approx 10000 Joules
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Okay. Not sure why I started off using .5kg. Can recalc with .35kg instead if you want. I used 1.5m for rotorspan, it's probably closer to 1.6m. We're into wiggle room and estimation variance here. :) Fudge factor.

It's quite a bit of energy.
 

Slobberdog

Well-Known Member
Yes lots of energy, would like to see mythbusters try something with it, can you imagine the carnage they could cause.
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Heli's flying into pig carcasses a near hover and full forward speed. Heli's exploding with a C4 charge at the top of a stall turn. Quad lifting a "busted" or "confirmed" placard at the end. :)
 

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
Maybe a heli across the path of an oncoming car. See what it does to the latest incarnation of Buster. Might scare some people from flying next to active roads.
 

Slobberdog

Well-Known Member
G meter in busters head, being hit by a 450 at 3000 rpm a 500 and 700 at 2250 rpm

Then maybe see what they can chop off a British Politician with a 700, don't worry he won't feel anything, cos where there's no sense there's no feeling,
 

DAL2855

Banned
Oh yes most definitely John! I would hate to get hit by the blades on my 450 let alone the 550! Man if those blades hit you on the 550, that would cause some serious injury. I have mine governed at between 1800-2000rpm headspeed but they still spin quite a good little bit after back on the ground and the motor is off, so I know they have ALOT of kinetic energy behind them even after the motor is cut off!!!!
 
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