Vibration analysis of heated plates

A study has been carried out of the free vibrations of a solid-wing structure with a diamond-shaped profile. Vibration frequencies and modes are obtained at different levels of the temperature, which is distributed in a way that is typical for such wings at high speed. It is found that the lowest vibration modes are of local character for wings with elevated temperature. Large displacements in the local modes include membrane stresses, so flutter in such modes must be of limited amplitude. In addition, a very small imperfection in the midplane of the plate is sufficient to make the lowest frequencies relatively insensitive to thermal buckling. Thermal buckling of the leading edge, then, is not likely to change the aeroelastic properties of the wing severely.