Shigeo Kobayashi

Supersonic Panel Flutter of Circular Cylindrical Shells Subjected to Internal Pressure

An experimental study for the influence of internal pressure on the supersonic panel flutter of circular cylindrical shells with clamped ends is presented. The critical internal pressure at which the flutter started or stopped was examined by sweeping the internal pressure under the condition of constant dynamic pressures. Contrary to OLSON and FUNGs experimental results, the present results indicate that the internal pressure has simply a stabilizing effect and that the stabilized shells did not flutter again with increasing internal pressure. These are in agreement with KOBAYASHIs previous theory. However, comparison between the experiment and the theory shows that the theoretical prediction of the effect of internal pressure is quite conservative.