Lu confusingly said:
"Regarding the detached blade, when it happens the blade will fly off. If centrifugal force is zero on your calculation where does the energy come from to propel the rotor off of the rotorhead? Is it possible that under this condition the centripetal force will drop to zero and an energy transfer takes place with all of the centripetal force being transferred into the blade?"
Nick sez:
This is an example of how wrong Lu is. He has it all backwards! The blade does not "fly off" and it does not get any "energy". If the hub suddenly broke, Lu, the blade does not fly off. The blade if disconnected simply travels as it would have, in unaccelerated motion in a straight line because the rotorhead can no longer drag it around the circle. The blade does not "fly off" it simply goes straight ahead, in continuous motion, with no force on it.
Any force the blade undergoes must be provided by the hub, because it is the hub which must force the blade to conform to the circle of motion. An unsophisticated fool thinks the blade pulls on the hub, an engineer sees that the hub must jerk the blade away from a straight path to make it move in a circle.
In any engineering department in any manufacturer in the world, your above post would make engineers laugh at its ignorance.
For ppruners who have open minds, try this: whirl a pen on a string above your head. While whirling it, release the string just as the pen points at a wall to your front. Does the pen hit the wall? Does it fly out, away from your fingers? Or does it simply move off in a straight line, tangent to the circle and parallel to the wall it was pointing at?
Lu. don't do this experiment, it will only hurt your brain.
