Ground vibration test identified structure model for flutter envelope prediction

In this paper, a new technique is introduced for the determination of the flutter speed and frequency of vehicles or wings. Instead of using the finite element modeling, the structural model which is directly estimated / identified from the ground vibration test of the real structure is implemented for flutter prediction. The advantage of using the estimated structural model is that the structural damping is included for the flutter prediction, and thereafter, a more reasonable flutter solution shall be obtained. With the computation of the unsteady aerodynamic reduced order model, and the correct coupling of the estimated structural model, a time domain flutter analysis can be readily performed. The proposed new technique will demonstrated using the NASA Langley Paddle wing structure.