Application of the unsteady vortex-lattice method to the nonlinear two-degree-of-freedom aeroelastic equations

A means of numerically simulating flutter is established by implementing a predictor-corrector algorithm to solve the equations of motion. Aerodynamic loads are provided by the unsteady vortex lattice method (UVLM). This method is illustrated via the obtainment of stable and unstable responses to initial disturbances in the case of two-degree-of-freedom motion. It was found that for some angles of attack and dynamic pressure, the initial disturbance decays, for others it grows (flutter). When flutter occurs, the solution yields the amplitude and period of the resulting limit cycle. The preliminaray results attest to the feasibility of this method for studying flutter in cases that would be difficult to treat using a classical approach.