Gradient-Based Optimization of Chaotic Panel Flutter

Abstract

This work considers the gradient-based optimization of an aeroelastic panel structure undergoing chaotic vibrations. A previously presented adaptive time-marching scheme is used to stabilize the design sensitivities that would normally grow unbounded in time, owing to intermittent unstable eigenvalues of the Jacobian. The design optimization entails forcing the root mean square (RMS) of the panel vibration to some specified value, in a way that minimizes the deviation of the structural thickness variables from their uniform baseline values. Depending on the location of the RMS constraint, the output physics may be chaotic, limit cycle oscillations, or statically buckled.