Flutter and forced aileron oscillation analyses of an aircraft wing including the effect of the nonlinear wing-fold hinge

A methodology is presented to calculate the response of a wing as well as the aerodynamic forces on the wing, due to forced aileron oscillations. The purpose of oscillating the ailerons in flight is to excite the vibration modes of the wing. From vibration recordings and knowledge of the aerodynamic forces induced by the aileron oscillation, the vibration modes of the wing can be identified. Identified modes may then be compared to wing vibration modes which are calculated through aeroelastic analyses of the wing. In particular, the flutter characteristics of the wing, predicted through aeroelastic analyses, can be verified.The flutter and forced aileron oscillation analyses are performed on the aeroelastic equations built for a finite-element model of the wing. An existing finite-element model is used. The aerodynamic forces induced by wing vibrations are calculated through the doublet-lattice method, using existing software. The flutter and forced aileron oscillation analyses are based on the modal form of the aeroelastic equations. The modal transformation and the resulting equations are rigourously outlined. A physical interpretation of the mathematical formulae is given. (Abstract shortened by UMI.