Transonic Nonlinear Aeroelasticity

Abstract A review of the state of the art of transonic nonlinear aeroelasticity is presented. The discussion begins with a description of the generic nonlinear aeroelastic behavior that may occur followed by a summary of lessons learned from flight experience. Physical sources of nonlinear behavior are identified in both the aerodynamic fluid flow and the structure. Methods for the efficient computation of unsteady aerodynamic forces are summarized and then the chapter concludes with a discussion of correlation of theory and experiment for flutter boundaries in transonic flow and limit cycle oscillations (LCOs) arising from a variety of physical sources for several distinct aeroelastic configurations.