Experimental Modal Analysis of an Aircraft Fuselage Panel: Part II

Abstract

Hypersonic aircraft structures must operate in complex loading conditions and very high temperatures, making the design of a robust and reusable platform very challenging. An analytical and experimental test program was developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and industry. The objective of the program is to review the design process of a thin skinned aircraft panel subjected to combined thermal-acoustic-mechanical loading, through a series of laboratory experiments at the AFRL’s Structural Dynamics Laboratory.

This paper is a continuation of previously presented work on a series of modal tests, performed to characterize the dynamics of a hat-stiffened fuselage panel designed by industry. In the previous work the modal test was performed under free-free boundary conditions. In order to assess the effect of the operating boundary conditions on the modal parameters, a roving impact test was performed after its installation in the Combined Environment Acoustic Chamber (CEAC) facility at AFRL. The article and fixture supports were instrumented in order to assess the effect of the support system. A description of the modal test will be included in the paper along with a discussion of the data obtained.