Nonlinear aeroelastic analysis of a rolling wraparound fin

The nonlinear aeroelastic characteristics of a rolling wraparound fin with freeplay nonlinearity are investigated. The aerodynamic forces are computed by solving the Euler equations in a body-fixed rotating coordinate frame. The nonlinear static and normal mode analyses for a rotating wraparound fin are performed usingMSCNastran. The V-g method, the traditional incremental damping approach to compute the flutter velocity, is used for aeroelastic analysis in the frequency domain, and the results are shown to compare with the time-history responses obtained by integration of the equations of motion using minimum state approximation time-domain aerodynamics. The effects of the freeplay nonlinearity and rolling motion of a wraparound fin on aeroelastic characteristics are investigated.