What is it about?
The topological degree is an integer related to the number of roots of a system of nonlinear equations within a given region. With flutter equations treated as a system of nonlinear equation the topological degree can be used to determine if flutter points within given velocity-frequency regions have been missed.
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Why is it important?
When tracing aeroelastic modes with continuation methods where each mode is traced independently, it is possible to miss important modes, for example if the frequency range of the modes traced is not large enough. The topological degree gives a quick test to ensure that no important modes have been missed.
Perspectives
This research was inspired by an incident at a company I worked for in which a high-frequency control-surface mode encountered limit-cycle oscillation and was only discovered during flight test. The mode was not traced during design, but this test would have shown that a linear flutter analysis had a flutter point.
Dr EDWARD E MEYER
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Topological Degree Applied to Flutter Equations, AIAA Journal, March 2015, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/1.j053455.
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