ABSTRACT
This chapter provides physics-based damage models of the composite rotor blades are used, and the temporal stiffness degradation of the composite blade is linked to life consumption of the structure using curve fits based on a phenomenological fatigue damage model. The genetic fuzzy system (GFS) for prediction of global physical damage and life consumption is developed by using blade response and loads-based measurements. The global GFS predicts the physical damage and life consumption along the whole blade. The simulation of the damaged composite rotor blade is explained in three parts. The first part explains the mathematical model of a helicopter rotor system. The second part discusses the composite rotor blade cross-sectional analysis. The composite cross-sectional properties are the input to the mathematical model of the helicopter rotor system. The third part presents the modeling of the key damage modes in composite materials.
