INDUCED OSCILLATIONS OF A FINITE PLATE

Limit cycle oscillations are complex vibrations of airframe surfaces f or which the cause-and-effect relationships are poorly understood. Thi s fundamental investigation of oscillations of a finite two-dimensiona l flexible plate considers unforced vibrations, as well as situations where motion is induced by a convected vortex, a pressure wave, or an unsteady boundary-layer separation on the moving plate, It is found th at very complex vibration patterns can occur and, with increasing nonl inearity, essentially chaotic motion can develop. When the plate is fo rced at frequencies close to the natural frequencies of the linear pro blem, a nonlinear resonance phenomenon occurs leading to a complex lim it cycle behavior.