Design of the Experimental Flutter Mechanism

Aircraft components such as Wings, control Surfaces and tails that come in direct contact with the free stream air exhibit a specific fluid structure interaction phenomenon known as “Flutter” or dynamic instability. Flutter is due to the interaction between elastic, inertial and aerodynamic forces. Flutter is one of the most common problem in the aerospace industry responsible for structural constrain in the design of the wing. Aircraft wings are designed to not exhibit flutter in flight envelope. Flutter in a wing can be easily modeled and tested by a two-degree of freedom system in a wind tunnel. Different complex numeric and analytic studies have been carried out to explain this dynamic instability. However, these analyses always need some experimental validation. So, flutter can initially be estimated and analyzed through experimental testing based on some assumptions. This article presents an overview on the design of the experimental flutter mechanisms that have been developed till now. A summary of the already available knowledge and an up to date progress in the field of flutter analysis and design mechanisms is provided. Different experimental approaches to the problem of evaluating divergence and flutter response of systems are comprehensively explained. Beginning from the purpose of the research and achievements, detailed comparative analysis has been done for the already developed mechanisms to analyze flutter. Finally, this comparative study is discussed in detail to give a comprehensive overview of concepts of designing a flutter mechanism for any wind tunnel.