Scribd
Upload
120 views13 pages

Flutter

Flutter is an aeroelastic phenomenon where structural vibrations combine with unsteady aerodynamic forces to produce self-feeding oscillations that can damage an airplane. Regulatory agencies require aircraft to be analyzed for flutter at all flight conditions and designs must demonstrate freedom from flutter through analysis and flight testing. Flutter analyses model the interaction between structural vibrations and aerodynamics to determine stable or unstable responses at different speeds. Design features like stiff structures and mass balancing help improve flutter characteristics.

Uploaded by

Rokeshuvaraj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
120 views13 pages

Flutter

Flutter is an aeroelastic phenomenon where structural vibrations combine with unsteady aerodynamic forces to produce self-feeding oscillations that can damage an airplane. Regulatory agencies require aircraft to be analyzed for flutter at all flight conditions and designs must demonstrate freedom from flutter through analysis and flight testing. Flutter analyses model the interaction between structural vibrations and aerodynamics to determine stable or unstable responses at different speeds. Design features like stiff structures and mass balancing help improve flutter characteristics.

Uploaded by

Rokeshuvaraj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

FLUTTER

WHAT IS FLUTTER?
Flutter is an aeroservoelastic phenomenon in which unsteady
aerodynamic forces combine with structural vibrations to produce a
self-feeding oscillation which usually leads to airplane damage
WHAT ARE THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR
FLUTTER?
• The FAA as well as European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and other agencies
requires the aircraft shows to be free from flutter for all nominal flight
conditions and for critical combinations of failed systems and structures. All
possible combinations of fuel, payload and operating conditions (such as
holding ice accumulation) must be considered. Flight flutter tests must be
performed for some of the conditions to demonstrate the accuracy of the
analysis and to prove the airplane is safe to operate.
• Flutter is critically dependent upon airspeed because the dynamic pressure in
the airstream provides the energy for the self-feeding oscillations. Therefore,
performing analyses at higher air-speeds than what other design aspects
require. Not only do civil airworthiness regulations require this, but it also
provides a margin of safety in speed.
HOW ARE FLUTTER CALCULATIONS
MADE?
• model the airplane interaction between structural vibrations and
unsteady aerodynamics using an engineering tool such as
MSC.Nastran. These models show whether an airplane will respond in
a stable or unstable fashion to an atmospheric disturbance. Stable
responses will damp out over time and are not a problem. Unstable
responses will grow, generally within seconds, and usually with
serious results.
HOW IS FREEDOM FROM FLUTTER DESIGNED INTO AN
AIRPLANE?

• A flutter analysis shows which airplane types, or modes, of vibration


result in flutter and at what airspeeds the flutter occurs. Flutter
outside the analysis envelope is not a problem but flutter inside the
envelope is. Variations in the analysis model can show which design
changes we can use to improve flutter behaviour.
• Typical design features that contribute to good flutter characteristics
include: stiff, lightweight structure, mass-balanced or hydraulically
stiffened control surfaces and structural mass concentrated toward
the wing or tail leading edges.
WHAT TESTS AND ANALYSES ARE
PERFORMED?
• Engineers usually calculate airplane structural vibration modes with a Finite
Element Model (FEM). Validation of these models is from a Ground Vibration
Test (GVT) of the actual as-built airplane or component. We validate the
aerodynamic data taken from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and wind
tunnel tests and during the airplane certification flight testing phase. We also
conduct flight flutter tests during the certification flight tests.
• During these tests, the airplane is subjected to critical flight conditions (usually
requiring a shallow dive) and control pulses or other means to excite structural
vibrations, which are shown to have stable damping. The tests use speed buildup
approaches and other flight test procedures to ensure flight safety during the
tests.
Flutter Analysis
• A flutter analysis determines the dynamic stability of an aeroelastic
system. As noted in Introduction , three methods of analysis are
available: the American (K) method, a restricted but more efficient
American (KE) method, and the British (PK) method.
• The British method not only determines stability boundaries but
provides approximate, but realistic, estimates of system damping at
subcritical speeds that can be used to monitor flight flutter tests.
• The system dampings obtained from the K- and KE-methods is a
mathematical quantity not easily related to the physical system
damping. As with static aeroelastic analysis, flutter analysis
presupposes a structural model, an aerodynamic model, and their
interconnection by splines.
• The modal technique is used to reduce the number of degrees of freedom
in the stability analysis. It should be appreciated by the user that the use
of vibration modes for this purpose constitutes a series solution, and that
a sufficient number of modes must be used to obtain convergence to the
required accuracy. An aspect of the modal method is a transformation of
the aerodynamic influence coefficients into modal coordinates. For
computational efficiency, this transformation is carried out explicitly for
only a few Mach numbers (m) and reduced frequencies (k).
• These generalized (modal) aerodynamic force coefficient matrices are then
interpolated to any additional Mach numbers and reduced frequencies
required by the flutter analysis. Matrix interpolation is an automatic
feature of the program. The MKAERO1 and MKAERO2 Bulk Data entries
allow the selection of parameters for the explicit calculations of the
aerodynamic matrices.
• Features of the three flutter methods are shown in Table 2-2. Because
of the iterative nature of the PK-method, the manner of convergence
is frequently of interest to the user
Method

Feature K KE PK

Structural Matrices K (complex) K (complex) K (real)

  B (complex)   B (real)

  M (complex) M (complex) M (real)

Aerodynamic Matrices M (complex) M (complex) K (real)

      B (real)

User Input Loops ρ-Density ρ-Density ρ-Density

  m-Mach Number m-Mach Number m-Mach Number

  k-Reduced Frequency k-Reduced Frequency V-Velocity

Output V-g Curve V-g Curve V-g Curve

  Complex Modes   Complex Modes

  Displacements   Displacements

  Deformed Plots   Deformed Plots

Compute Roots for User Input ρ, m, k.


For Each ρ, m, V, Iterate on Each Root to
Method Compute Roots for User Input ρ, m, k Reorder Output so a “Curve” Refers to a
Find Consistent Results.
Mode.

Several Methods Available, Selected by


Eigenvalue Method Complex Upper* Hessenberg Real Upper* Hessenberg
User via CMETHOD in Case Control
• The K-method of flutter analysis considers the aerodynamic loads as
complex masses, and the flutter analysis becomes a vibration analysis
using complex arithmetic to determine the frequencies and artificial
dampings required to sustain the assumed harmonic motion. This is
the reason the solution damping is not physical. When a B matrix is
present, complex conjugate pairs of roots are no longer produced. NX
Nastran uses the CEAD module to extract all requested roots but only
selects roots with a positive imaginary part for the flutter summary
output.
• The KE-method is similar to the K-method. By restricting the
functionality, the KE-method is a more efficient K-method. The two
major restrictions are that no damping (B) matrix is allowed and no
eigenvector recovery is made. A complex stiffness matrix can be used
to include the effects of structural damping. The KE-method therefore
cannot consider control systems in which damping terms are usually
essential, but it is a good method for producing a large number of
points for the classical V-g curve of a system without automatic
controls. The KE-method also sorts the data for plotting. A plot
request for one curve gives all of the reduced frequencies for a mode
whereas a similar request in the K-method gives all of the modes at
one k value. Use of the alternative method for the specification of k
(see the FLFACT Bulk Data entry) is designed to produce well-behaved
V-g curves for the KE-method.
• The PK-method treats the aerodynamic matrices as real frequency
dependent springs and dampers. A frequency is estimated, and the
eigenvalues are found. From an eigenvalue, a new frequency is found.
The convergence to a consistent root is rapid. Advantages of the
method are that it permits control systems analysis and that the
damping values obtained at subcritical flutter conditions appear to be
more representative of the physical damping. Another advantage
occurs when the stability at a specified velocity is required since many
fewer eigenvalue analyses are needed to find the behavior at one
velocity. The input data for the PK-method also allows looping, as in
the K-method. The inner loop of the user data is on velocity, with
Mach number and density on the outer loops. Thus, finding the
effects of variations in one or both of the two parameters in one run
is possible.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy