Unsteady Flow Separation Can Endanger the Structural Integrity of Aerospace Launch Vehicles

摘要

When during the ascent through the Earth's atmosphere the structural response of an aerospace launch vehicle changes from the usually benign case of the buffet response to wind gusts ant air turbulence to the self-excited type, the response amplitude increases dramatically and could often endanger the structural integrity of the launch vehicle. This is what occurs when the structural response starts to interact with and modify the unsteady separated flow characteristics, which generates aerodynamic negative damping or undamping of the low-frequency bending modes.