Aeroelastic stability of a cantilevered plate in yawed subsonic flow

The aeroelastic stability of cantilevered plates with their clamped edge oriented both parallel and normal to subsonic flow is a classical fluid–structure interaction problem. When the clamped edge is parallel to the flow the system loses stability in a coupled bending and torsion motion known as wing flutter. When the clamped edge is normal to the flow the instability is exclusively bending and is referred to as flapping flag flutter. This paper explores the stability of plates during the transition between these classic aeroelastic configurations. The aeroelastic model couples a classical beam structural model to a three-dimensional vortex lattice aerodynamic model. The aeroelastic stability is evaluated in the frequency domain and the flutter boundary is presented as the plate is rotated from the flapping flag to the wing configuration. The transition between the flag-like and wing-like instability is often abrupt and the yaw angle of the flow for the transition is dependent on the relative spacing of the first torsion and second bending natural frequencies. This paper also includes ground vibration and aeroelastic experiments carried out in the Duke University Wind Tunnel that confirm the theoretical predictions.     

Flutter of an elastic plate in a channel flow: Confinement and finite-size effects

When a cantilevered plate lies in an axial flow, it is known to exhibit self-sustained oscillations once a critical flow velocity is reached. This flutter instability has been investigated theoretically, numerically and experimentally by different authors, showing that the critical velocity is always underestimated by two-dimensional models. However, it is generally admitted that, if the plate is confined in the spanwise direction by walls, three-dimensionality of the flow is reduced and the two-dimensional models can apply. The aim of this article is to quantify this phenomenon by analysing the effect of the clearance between the plate and the side walls on the flutter instability. To do so, the pressure distribution around an infinite-length plate is first solved in the Fourier space, which allows to develop an analytical model for the pressure jump. This model is then used in real space to compute instability thresholds as a function of the channel clearance, the plate aspect ratio and mass ratio. Our main result shows that, as the value of the clearance is reduced, the convergence towards the two-dimensional limit is so slow that this limit is unattainable experimentally.     

Simulation of the aerodynamics of buildings and structures by means of the closed vortex loop method

Problems of the numerical simulation of the air flow past buildings and structures are considered using the closed vortex loop method. A mathematical model, based on the vortex approach, of the time-dependent ideal incompressible fluid flow past a system of bodies is proposed. A numerical scheme for solving the problem and an algorithm for calculating the distributed wind loads over the body surface are outlined. An example of calculating the aerodynamic loads is given for a real building and the results are compared with the known results of testing a model of the building in a wind tunnel. An example of the calculation and analysis of the wind distribution over a system of several buildings is also presented.     

A hybrid numerical approach to predict the vibrational responses of panels excited by a turbulent boundary layer

In this work, a hybrid numerical approach to predict the vibrational responses of planar structures excited by a turbulent boundary layer is presented. The approach combines an uncorrelated wall plane wave technique with the finite element method. The wall pressure field induced by a turbulent boundary layer is obtained as a set of uncorrelated wall pressure plane waves. The amplitude of these plane waves are determined from the cross spectrum density function of the wall pressure field given either by empirical models from literature or from experimental data. The response of the planar structure subject to a turbulent boundary layer excitation is then obtained from an ensemble average of the different realizations. The numerical technique is computationally efficient as it rapidly converges using a small number of realizations. To demonstrate the method, the vibrational responses of two panels with simply supported or clamped boundary conditions and excited by a turbulent flow are considered. In the case study comprising a plate with simply supported boundary conditions, an analytical solution is employed for verification of the method. For both cases studies, numerical results from the hybrid approach are compared with experimental data measured in two different anechoic wind tunnels.     

The vibration and stability analysis of moderate thick plates by the method of lines

The method of lines based on Hu Hai-chang's theory for the vibration and stability of moderate thick plates is developed. The standard nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) system for natural frequencies and critical load is given by use of ODE techniques, and then any indicated eigenvalue could be obtained directly from ODE solver by employing the so-called initial eigenfunction technique instead of the mode orthogonality condition.Numerical examples show that the present method is very effective and reliable.     

The analysis of unsteady incompressible flows by a three-step finite element method

This paper describes a three-step finite element method and its applications to unsteady incompressible fluid flows. Stability analysis of the one-dimensional pure convection equation shows that this method has third-order accuracy and an extended numerical stability domain in comparison with the Lax--Wendroff finite element method. The method is cost-effective for incompressible flows because it permits less frequent updates of the pressure field with good accuracy. In contrast with the Taylor-Galerkin method, the present method does not contain any new higher-order derivatives, which makes it suitable for solving non-linear multidimensional problems and flows with complicated boundary conditions. The three-step finite element method has been used to simulate unsteady incompressible flows. The numerical results obtained are in good agreement with those in the literature.     

Aeroelastic stability analysis of a flexible over-expanded rocket nozzle using numerical coupling by the method of transpiration

The aim of this paper is to present and compare two different approaches for aeroelastic stability analysis of a flexible over-expanded rocket nozzle. The first approach is based on the aeroelastic stability models developed in a previous work, while the second uses the numerical fluid–structure coupling via the transpiration method. The aeroelastic frequencies of the nozzle obtained by various stability models are compared with those extracted from the numerical coupling by the method of transpiration. Both set of results show an overall good agreement.     

Two-dimensional numerical calculation of the flow field about a scoop inlet by the piecewise linear method

The piecewise linear method (PLM) based on time operator splitting is used to solve the unsteady compressible Euler equations describing the two-dimensional flow around and through a straight wall inlet placed stationary in a rapidly rotating supersonic flow. The PLM scheme is formulated as a Lagrangian step followed by an Eulerian remap. The inhomogeneous terms in the Euler equations written in cylindrical coordinates are first removed by Sod's method and the resulting set of equations is further reduced to two sets of one-dimensional Lagrangian equations, using time operator splitting. The numerically generated flow fields are presented for different values of the back pressure imposed at the downstream exit of the inlet nozzle. An oblique shock wave is formed in front of the almost whole portion of the inlet entrance, the incoming streamlines being deflected towards the higher pressure side after passing through the oblique shock wave and then bending down to the lower pressure side. A reverse flow appears inside the inlet nozzle owing to the recovery pressure of the incoming streams being lower than the back pressure of the inlet nozzle.     

Vibration analysis of a circular disk tensioned by rolling using finite element method

Summary The paper proposes a method in finite element analysis for estimating natural frequencies of a disk tensioned by rolling, without the use of eigenvalue analysis. The natural frequencies of a disk vary when the localized plastic deformation caused by roll-tensioning induces residual stresses. Tensioning is used for improving the dynamic stability of circular saws; the optimal condition of rolling can be predicted from natural frequency characteristics. In the proposed method, the natural frequencies after rolling are easily estimated from the mode shapes of the disk before rolling and the stress distribution after rolling. The method is based on ideas similar to thermal stress and sensitivity analysis rather than on eigenvalue analysis. The effectiveness of the method is shown by comparing the natural frequency characteristics obtained by this method with those by eigenvalue analysis. Received 18 June 1998; accepted for publication 8 April 1999     

The nonlinear vibration analysis of a clamped-clamped beam by a reduced multibody method

The nonlinear response characteristics for a dynamic system with a geometric nonlinearity is examined using a multibody dynamics method. The planar system is an initially straight clamped-clamped beam subject to high frequency excitation in the vicinity of its third natural mode. The model includes a pre-applied static axial load, linear bending stiffness and a cubic in-plane stretching force. Constrained flexibility is applied to a multibody method that lumps the beam into N elements for three substructures subjected to the nonlinear partial differential equation of motion and N-1 linear modal constraints. This procedure is verified by d'Alembert's principle and leads to a discrete form of Galerkin's method. A finite difference scheme models the elastic forces. The beam is tuned by the axial force to obtain fourth order internal resonance that demonstrates bimodal and trimodal responses in agreement with low and moderate excitation test results. The continuous Galerkin method is shown to generate results conflicting with the test and multibody method. A new checking function based on Gauss' principle of least constraint is applied to the beam to minimize modal constraint error.     

Prediction of wave pattern and wave resistance of surface piercing bodies by a boundary element method

An iterative boundary element method, which was originally developed for both two‐ and three‐dimensional cavitating hydrofoils moving steadily under a free surface, is modified and extended to predict the wave pattern and wave resistance of surface piercing bodies, such as ship hulls and vertical struts. The iterative nonlinear method, which is based on the Green theorem, allows the separation of the surface piercing body problem and the free‐surface problem. The free‐surface problem is also separated into two parts; namely, left and right (with respect to x axis) free‐surface problems. Those all (three) problems are solved separately, with the effects of one on the other being accounted for in an iterative manner. The wetted surface of the body (ship hull or strut, including cavity surface if exists) and the left and right parts with respect to x axis of free surface are modelled with constant strength dipole and constant strength source panels. In order to prevent upstream waves, the source strengths from some distance in front of the body to the end of the truncated upstream boundary are enforced to be zero. No radiation condition is enforced for downstream and transverse boundaries. A transverse wave cut technique is used for the calculation of wave resistance. The method is first applied to a point source and a three‐dimensional submerged cavitating hydrofoil to validate the method and a Wigley hull and a vertical strut to compare the results with those of experiments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.