Abstract: The panel flutter with uncertain structural parameters is studied in this article. Based on von Karman’s large deflection plate theory, piston theory aerodynamics and quasi-steady thermal stress theory, an aeroelastic model of a composite panel is established. The uncertainties in structural parameters are considered and described by interval numbers on the basis of a deterministic panel flutter analysis model. By virtue of interval extension and Taylor series expansion combined with the application of the finite element method, an interval analysis method is presented to estimate the intervals of flutter critical wind speed and amplitudes of limit cycle oscillations. The proposed interval finite element model and the stochastic finite element model for panel flutter analysis are compared by numerical examples, and the results show the efficiency and feasibility of the method presented. The advantage of this method is that only the intervals of uncertainties are required, and it provides a way to solve complex aeroelastic dynamic problems such as panel flutter with uncertain parameters.

Key words: flutter, critical wind speed, limit cycle oscillations, uncertainty, interval analysis