Nonlinear Dynamics of a Six-Dimensional Aeroelastic System

Analytic and numerical methods are employed to investigate the stability and multiple bifurcations in the nonlinear aeroelastic system of an airfoil with an external store. The degenerated equilibria of bifurcation response equation are taken into account. By means of center manifold theory and normal form theory, the stability regions of the initial equilibrium point and the explicit expressions of the critical bifurcation curves are obtained, which can yield static bifurcations and Hopf bifurcations. Under certain conditions, 2-D and 3-D tori motions may occur. Finally, the numerical results achieved by four-order Runge–Kutta method agree with the analytic results.