Finite element method applied to the flutter of two parallel elastically coupled flat plates

Abstract

SUMMARYThe application of the finite element method to the supersonic flutter of two parallel elastically coupled flat plates subjected to a pre-stress state of in-plane loadings is presented. Numerical results are given and these are compared with previous analytical solutions. It is shown that, for the coupled plates, the first spanwise modes are not necessarily the critical modes for the flutter boundaries. Previous analytical results do not exhibit such a trend since only the first spanwise modes were considered.