Aeroelastic response of a rigid wing supported by nonlinear springs

Nonlinear aeroelastic behavior is examined. This research extends the efforts of several recent investigations that address freeplay or piecewise nonlinearities in aeroelastic systems; however in the studies described herein the authors address continuous nonlinearities such as those found in structural systems that exhibit spring hardening or softening effects. The authors describe a unique flutter test apparatus designed to permit experimental investigations of prescribed nonlinear response. The results of complementary analytical and experimental studies are presented for a nonlinear aeroelastic system limited to two degrees of freedom.