Hypersonic aerothermoelastic analysis of wings

A hierarchical solution process for thermal flutter analysis is presented to dealing with the aerothermoelastic dynamic problems of hypersonic wings. Firstly, the natural dynamic characteristics of structures under thermal circumstances were analyzed. And then the hypersonic unsteady aerodynamics were calculated by using Van Dyke piston theory. Finally the flutter equations were solved by p-k method. Numerical calculation and comparison are executed on two wings, one was an all-moved rudder, another was a low aspect-ratio wing with root fixed. The results illustrate that both the natural dynamics and the flutter characteristics of wings may vary due to aerodynamic heating. Especially for the low aspect-ratio wing with root fixed, as the results of the thermal effect, its torsional stiffness decreases greatly, and so the bending-torsion flutter critical speed declines sharply.