Non-Classical Effects on the Flutter Instability of Swept Aircraft Wings

Flutter and divergence instabilities of aircraft swept wings in incompressible, subsonic compressible and supersonic flight speed regimes are investigated. The study is based on a structural model that incorporates the anisotropy, heterogeneity, transverse shear and the warping inhibition effects. An exact solution methodology which is appropriate for parametric studies enables one to determine the effects played by the transverse shear, warping restraint and the flight Mach number on aeroelastic instabilities. The influence of various effects is highlighted and pertinent conclusions are outlined. It is also shown that the mathematical method used in the paper yields results in excellent agreement with an exact approach devised for a special case and in more accurate predictions than a number of numerical schemes applied to the solution of similar problems.