Hopf bifurcation analysis of an aeroelastic model using stochastic normal form

Abstract

We investigate the effects of parameter uncertainties on the dynamical response of an aeroelastic model representing an oscillating airfoil in pitch and plunge with linear aerodynamics and cubic structural nonlinearities. An approach based on the stochastic normal form is proposed to determine the effects due to the variations in the flow speed and the structural stiffness terms on the stability of the aeroelastic system near the Hopf bifurcation point. This approach allows us to study analytically the bifurcation scenario and to predict the amplitude and frequency of the limit cycle oscillation (LCO). The results show that the amplitude of LCO corresponding to the supercritical Hopf bifurcation increases with the intensity of the noise perturbing the pitch and plunge cubic terms, but there is almost no effect on the LCO frequency. Uncertainties in the flow speed produce a shift in the bifurcation point, and unstable subcritical behavior may occur for values of parameters for which the corresponding deterministic model is stable. The stochastic normal form confirms and extends previously known numerical results regarding the effect of parameter variations, and offers an effective way to perform sensitivity analysis of the system's response.