Panel Flutter and Divergence Criteria Design Guide for Flat Unbuckled Sheets Available to Purchase

THE outer surfaces of aircraft are often constructed of thin sheet panels attached to a ‘rigid’ inner framework. Acting on such panels are the lateral forces due to air pressure and inertia, and there are mid‐plane forces due to aerodynamic heating or internal pressurization effects. Due to this combination of forces it appears that such panels can suffer either static or dynamic deformations known, respectively, as panel divergence and flutter.