Observations of the dynamics of panels in supersonic flow

Abstract

This chapter investigates the dynamics of a panel forced by a supersonic unsteady flow by using three numerical methods. These methods include—the finite differences, a Galerkin approach, and proper orthogonal decomposition. The key aspects of using a Galerkin method for modeling the dynamics of the panel exhibiting limit cycles and chaos are also investigated. The aeroelastic model includes structural nonlinearities and has been shown to exhibit complex dynamics that include static buckling, limit-cycle oscillations, and chaos. The intensity of the chaotic regime has been determined by computing Lyapunov exponents of the dynamics for various ranges of parameters. Although temporally chaotic, the aeroelastic system has been shown to be spatially coherent for the parameter ranges studied. The level of spatial coherence in the dynamics has been estimated by means of proper orthogonal decomposition. The stable buckling and limit cycle oscillations are shown to be accurately captured by the reduced order models, which are also robust to several parameter variations.