Abstract
The flutter analysis of multi-web aircraft wing structures is considered by using finite element idealization. The constant stress triangular membrane elements, the rectangular shear panels and the pin-jointed bar elements are used to idealize the wing structure. The order of the aerodynamic, mass and stiffness matrices of the assembled structure is reduced by introducing the first few natural modes of the structure as genenalized coordinates. The approach is quite general and is applicable to any multi-web wing structure with arbitrary configuration, which might have cutouts and other structural discontinuities. Three example wing structures are considered to illustrate the effectiveness of the approach and the present finite element results are found to be in good agreement with those given by other conventional methods.
