Book Description

This report covers a program of research on analytical studies and experimental verification of the vibration and flutter characteristics of inflatable structures, as a first step toward establishing ded desisign criteriaaa which will insure that lifting surfaces for future inflatable vehicles will be free from dynamic instabilities. The research effort was mainly confined to the AIRMAT type structure, where the spacing of the surfaces is achieved by chords held in tension by internal pressure. A method is presented for constructing AIRMAT models which are suitable for use as wind d tt tuuutunnnnnnel flutter modeels. Inn addition to the standard vibration data, the vibration mode shapes of a delta wing, as determined by use of mirrors mounted on the model, are presented. Some experimental results on the properties of the model surface material are also included. Sixty-five flutter points were obtained for cantilevered, half-span delta-wing models over the Mach number range from 0.116 to 6.0.