Determination of the critical velocity of a straight wing with a high aspect ratio

Abstract

An aerodynamic problem on an air flow around a large aspect ratio rectangular wing is investigated in this study. According to the theory of Vlasov, the wing is considered to be a thin rod. External loads are assumed to be proportional to the airfoil angle of attack related to the dimensionless coefficient of the lift and the pitching moment coefficient. These coefficients depend on the airfoil parameters and the Mach number M and are determined by experimental measurements for subsonic and supersonic velocities. In this case, to define the unstable cases of the wing, one bases on the Lyapunov stability theory. Equations of bending and torsional free vibrations have resulted. Based on the analysis of natural frequencies (eigenfrequencies), it is possible to determine the changing positions of the real part and the imaginary part of the characteristic equation solution. These positions can cause instabilities for the wing such as torsional divergence and flutter.

Keywords

• thin rod
• divergence
• linear aerodynamics
• straight wing
• high aspect ratio
• critical velocity