The fluttering panel as a continuous nonlinear nonconservative system

A nonlinear continuous elastic system subjected to a combination of conserv ative and nonconservative forces is considered where parameters controlling the system are moving deep in the instability domain. New techniques are e mployed to present the numerical results in a compact form suitable for the interpretation of the system postcritical behavior. As an example, an init ially planar elastic rectangular panel subjected to supersonic gas flow and loaded in the middle surface by "dead" forces is considered. Classical pla te theory and piston theory approximation are used to simplify the statemen t and analysis of the problem. The steady states of the systems and their s tability are analyzed without discretization of the problem, that is, withi n the framework of continuum solid mechanics. When dynamic behavior is conc erned, the study is performed for a finite-degree-of-freedom approximation of the system. However. the number of degrees of freedom is chosen to be hi gh enough to address the main features of the continuous system, and the fi nal numerical results are discussed in terms of continuum systems. A variet y of attractors is found in remote postcritical domains, and the high sensi tivity of the system behavior to the variation of the control parameters an d initial conditions is demonstrated.