Effect of Model Fidelity on High-Speed Aeroelastic Behavior of a Cantilever Plate

Turbulence, flow separation, and shock dynamics challenge the modeling and analysis of high-speed aeroelastic behavior. Motivated by this, the importance of modeling the fidelity of the flow is explored in the aeroelastic response of a cantilever plate in an [Formula: see text] separating turbulent flow using unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) and URANS-enriched local piston theory (LPT). Structural modeling assumptions are also evaluated using both linear and nonlinear representations. Close agreement in the predicted aeroelastic steady state is observed. However, large discrepancies in the dynamic aeroelastic response predictions are found and ultimately linked to the neglect of deformation-induced cavity pressure fluctuations and dynamic flow separation in the LPT model. Interestingly, the dynamic flow separation induces a fluid-driven limit cycle oscillation in the postflutter regime. Furthermore, structural nonlinearity is not found to have a strong impact on the conditions and configurations considered.