Aeroelastic modeling and stability analysis: A robust approach to the flutter problem

Summary In this paper, a general approach to address modeling of aeroelastic systems, with the final goal to apply μ analysis, is discussed. The chosen test bed is the typical section with unsteady aerodynamic loads, which enables basic modeling features to be captured and so extend the gained knowledge to practical problems treated with modern techniques. The aerodynamic operator has a nonrational dependence on the Laplace variable s, and hence, 2 formulations for the problem are available: frequency domain or state‐space (adopting rational approximations). The study attempts to draw a parallel between the 2 consequent linear fractional transformation modeling processes, emphasizing critical differences and their effect on the predictions obtained with μ analysis. A peculiarity of this twofold formulation is that aerodynamic uncertainties are inherently treated differently and therefore the families of plants originated by the possible linear fractional transformation definitions are investigated. One of the main results of the paper is to propose a unified framework to address the robust modeling task, which enables the advantages of both the approaches to be retained. On the analysis side, the application of μ analysis to the different models is shown, emphasizing its capability to gain insight into the problem.