Effect of Store Aerodynamics on Wing/Store Flutter

Owing to the high cost of doing flutter analysis for aircraft carrying large numbers and types of stores, it is not economically feasible to include store aerodynamics when there will be little change in the flutter results. But store aerodynamics should be included if it will change the results of the flutter analysis. This study represents the first systematic analytical study of the effect of store aerodynamics on wing/store flutter. A large number of wing/store single carriage configurations and parameters were included in the study; multivariate analysis techniques were used for the first time to analyze wing/store configurations, modal data, and flutter results. The results of the multivariate analysis indicate that it may not be possible to develop general guidelines, but it is possible to develop specific guidelines for use with a particular aircraft.