Editing Aeroelasticity (section)

== Prediction and cure ==
[[File:Mass Balancing ME Bf110.jpg|thumb|Mass balances protruding from an aileron used to suppress flutter]]
In the period 1950–1970, [[AGARD]] developed the ''Manual on Aeroelasticity'' which details the processes used in solving and verifying aeroelastic problems along with standard examples that can be used to test numerical solutions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manual on Aeroelasticity - Subject and author Index |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/717842.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214074026/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/717842.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2019 |access-date=2019-12-14}}</ref>

Aeroelasticity involves not just the external aerodynamic loads and the way they change but also the structural, damping and mass characteristics of the aircraft. Prediction involves making a [[mathematical model]] of the aircraft as a series of masses connected by springs and dampers which are tuned to represent the [[structural dynamics|dynamic characteristics]] of the aircraft structure. The model also includes details of applied aerodynamic forces and how they vary.

The model can be used to predict the flutter margin and, if necessary, test fixes to potential problems. Small carefully chosen changes to mass distribution and local structural stiffness can be very effective in solving aeroelastic problems.

Methods of predicting flutter in linear structures include the ''p-method'', the ''k-method'' and the ''p-k method''.<ref name="Hodges" />

For [[nonlinear system]]s, flutter is usually interpreted as a [[limit cycle]] oscillation (LCO), and methods from the study of [[dynamical system]]s can be used to determine the speed at which flutter will occur.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tang |first=D. M. |title=Effects of geometric structural nonlinearity on flutter and limit cycle oscillations of high-aspect-ratio wings |journal=Smart Materials and Structures |year=2004 |volume=19|issue=3 |pages=291–306 |doi=10.1016/j.jfluidstructs.2003.10.007 |bibcode=2004JFS....19..291T }}</ref>