Limit cycle oscillations of a wing section with a tip mass

This paper presents an investigation into the limit cycle oscillation pheno menon for a nonlinear aeroelastic system under unsteady aerodynamics. The s ystem consists of a sweptback wing section carrying a tip mass with one deg ree of freedom. The junction stiffness considered between the wing and the tip mass is trilinear. The method of harmonic balance, which can be very pr actical in the study of nonlinear flutter, is used for the theoretical anal ysis of limit cycle oscillations. Stable, unstable and semi-stable limit cy cles are predicted in the system for both cases of hardening and softening springs. Results found by numerical simulation provide the amplitudes of li mit cycles. The experimental results in wind tunnel tests agree well with t he predictions obtained both theoretically and numerically.