PREDICTION OF FLUTTER IN PANELS MADE FROM ADVANCED COMPOSITEMATERIALS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A COMPUTATIONAL PROCEDURE FOR PREDICTING THE LIFE AND RELIABILITY OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURAL PANELS SUBJECTED TO COMPLEX DYNAMIC LOADS FROM ACOUSTIC, AERODYNAMIC, AND THERMAL ENVIRONMENTS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH USES A NONCLASSICAL VARIATIONAL APPROACH AND A TIME DOMAIN MONTE CARLO METHOD TO DEVELOP ANALYTICAL EQUATIONS OF HIGH ACCURACY AND EFFICIENCY. THE STRUCTURAL MECHANICAL MODEL WILL INCLUDE MODELING FOR TRANSVERSE SHEAR EFFECTS. THE TIME DOMAIN MONTE CARLO METHOD WILL PERMIT AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF PEAK STRESSES AND EXCEEDANCES; SUBSEQUENTLY, MEANINGFUL PREDICTIONS OF STRUCTURAL LIFE (FATIGUE) CAN BE MADE. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL BE USED TO VERIFY THE SYNERGISTIC COMBINING OF THE NONCLASSICAL VARIATIONAL METHODS WITH THE MONTE CARLO TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS. THE RESULTING COMPUTATIONAL PROCEDURE WILL BE USED TO ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF THE DEVELOPING EITHER A DISCRETIZED (FINITE ELEMENT) OR NUMERICAL COMPUTER PROGRAM TO BE COMPLETED DURING ANY PHASE II EFFORT. THIS RESEARCH WILL LEAD TO A NEW TECHNOLOGY BASE FOR ESTIMATING THE NONLINEAR RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS OF A NEW GENERATION OF AIRCRAFT EXPOSED TO SEVERE ACOUSTIC, AERODYNAMIC, AND THERMAL ENVIRONMENTS.