Mathematical modelling of rotor–fuselage coupling in helicopters
Vikramsinha V. Manevvmosmanabad@gmail.comDepartment of Mechanical EngineeringTerna Public Charitable Trust’s College of EngineeringOsmanabad, Maharashtra, 413501, IndiaView full profile → , *Kapil MundadaCorresponding authorkapil.mundada@vit.eduDepartment of Instrumentation EngineeringVishwakarma Institute of TechnologyPune, Maharashtra, 411037, IndiaView full profile → , Manoj I. Patelmanoj.patel@gokuluniversity.ac.inFaculty of Computer Science and ApplicationGokul Global UniversitySiddhpur, Gujarat, 384151, India0009-0009-0731-9528View full profile → , Danish Kundradanish.kundra.orp@chitkara.edu.inCentre of Research Impact and Outcome (CRIO)Chitkara UniversityRajpura, Punjab, 140417, India0009-0004-1739-8219View full profile → , Shubhi Goyalshubhi.mathematics@quantumeducation.inQuantum University Research CenterQuantum UniversityRoorkee, Uttarakhand, 247667, India0009-0001-1684-7324View full profile → , Bathala Balajibathalabalaji.bb@proton.meCentre for Multidisciplinary ResearchAnurag UniversityHyderabad, Telangana, 500088, India0009-0003-5166-8545View full profile → , Shailesh Solankishailesh.solanki@niu.edu.inSchool of SciencesNoida International UniversityGreater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201312, IndiaView full profile →
* Corresponding author · click or hover a name for details
- Received:
- 01 Apr 2026
- Published Online:
- 27 Oct 2026
- Article type:
- Research Article
- Language:
- EN
- Article no.:
- JIM-2816
- Pages:
- 3021–3032
Abstract
Rotor–fuselage coupling is a fundamental phenomenon that is essential for understanding helicopter dynamic behaviour, vibration characteristics, flight stability and integrity under various operating conditions through mathematical modelling. In this study, a coupled mechanical model is presented, combining the dynamics of rotor blade and rigid-body motion of the fuselage, via aerodynamic and inertial interaction forces. The beam theory is used to represent rotor deformation and the multi-degree-of-freedom equations are used to represent the dynamics of the fuselage. Modeling the interaction mechanism is done with a set of coupled differential equations that describe the exchange of forces and moments between subsystems. The numerical discretization and time integration algorithms are used to obtain stable and accurate transient solutions. The simulation results show that the proposed model can accurately predict the coupled vibration response, rotor-induced oscillation, and fuselage motion under some typical flight conditions. The framework developed is an efficient computation tool for helicopter dynamic analysis, vibration reduction strategies, flight control system design and structural optimization.
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References
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