Chapter 7
Simulation and Nonlinear Analysis of Panel
Flutter with Thermal Effects in Supersonic Flow
Kai-Lun Li, Jia-Zhong Zhang, and Peng-Fei Lei
Abstract With the consideration of thermal effect, an improved panel flutter model
equation is established to study the dynamic behaviors of panel structures on super-
sonic aircrafts. The governing equation is approached by Galerkin Method, and then
the resulting ordinary differential equations of the panel are obtained. By the numer-
ical simulation, some essential nonlinear phenomena are discovered, and they play
an important role in the stability of the panel in supersonic flow. Finally, Mach num-
ber and Steady temperature recovery factor are considered bifurcation parameters,
Hopf bifurcation, and Pitchfork bifurcation, and other complex bifurcations at the
equilibrium points are analyzed in detail, respectively, by seeking the eigenvalues of
the Jacobian matrix of the dynamic system at bifurcation points. It can be concluded
that there exist a rich variety of nonlinear dynamics, and they are essential for the
stability of the panel in the supersonic flow.
7.1 Introduction
The panel structures have been used frequently on supersonic aircrafts. As the
aircrafts are flying at supersonic speed, the aerothermoelasticity has an enormous
impact on the aircrafts. Under the combined effects of aerodynamics, thermodynam-
ics, and structure dynamics, the panel structures on the aircrafts behave as periodic
oscillation, quasi-periodic oscillation, chaotic motion, buckling, etc. These phenom-
ena lead to a great deal of threat to the safety and life of the panel.
From the viewpoint of nonlinear dynamics, the states of panel varying from
static state to oscillation or dynamic buckling are the typical bifurcation behav-
iors, and such nonlinear phenomena could be utilized to improve the aerodynamic
J.-Z. Zhang (
)
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University,
Xi’an, Shaanxi 710049, People’s Republic of China
e-mail: jzzhang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
A.C.J. Luo (ed.), Dynamical Systems: Discontinuity, Stochasticity and Time-Delay,
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-5754-2
7,
c
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
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