DESIGN AND INITIAL RUN OF A NEW TEST SETUP FOR INVESTIGATIONS ON THE AEROELASTIC STABILITY OF PANELS IN THE TRANSONIC MACH DOMAIN

A flat rectangular plate, clamped on all sides and actuated in its first bending mode, is used for investigations on aeroelastic stability. The described experiment is performed in the Transonic Wind Tunnel Gottingen (DNW-TWG) within a Mach number domain of 0.7 < M∞ < 1.2. This forced motion experiment is used for obtaining the aerodynamic response over a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes of the plate’s motion. Beside the measurement of the panel deformation by means of a stereo camera marker tracking system, the flow response over the panel is measured by high sensitive miniature pressure transducers. The boundary layer thickness is identified by means of a pitot tube equipped rake. The content of this paper focuses on the design and initial operation of the wind tunnel test setup. In the second part the first results are discussed.