Insights into panel aeroelasticity in shock-dominated flow: Pave way for safer, faster supersonic flights

Due to the lightweight requirement of high-speed flight vehicles, thin, flexible panels are widely used, which may lead to an unfavorable aeroelastic response, thereby threatening structural safety. Shock-boundary layer interactions are commonly encountered at supersonic speed, which cause severe unsteady pressure and thermal loads on the flexible panels, seriously increasing the risk of aeroelastic damage. As a multidisciplinary phenomenon, panel aeroelasticity in shock-dominated flow has captured the interest of researchers from a wide range of fields.

In a recent review article featured in the Chinese Journal of Aeronautics on July 11, 2025, Prof. Aiming Shi and Yiwen He from Northwestern Polytechnical University provided a comprehensive review of recent advances in panel aeroelasticity in shock-dominated flow, highlighting the critical interplay between fluid-structure interactions (FSIs) and shock-boundary layer interaction (SBLIs), which constitute two pivotal research frontiers in aerospace engineering.

"Understanding how flexible panels interact with shock waves is critical for preventing catastrophic structural failures in high-speed vehicles. In turn, their aeroelastic responses can significantly impact shock dynamics, inspiring potential flow control strategies. This study aims to integrate insight from fluid-structure interactions (FSIs) and shock-boundary layer interactions (SBLIs) to deliver a systematic review of these complex dynamic behaviors and their implications for safer, more efficient supersonic vehicle design." said Prof. Aiming Shi, a senior expert whose research interests focus on the field of aeroelasticity and aerodynamics.

The review paper systematically summarizes recent advances in the methodologies applied to capture structural and fluid dynamics and reveal the underlying physical mechanism, including theoretical models, numerical simulation, and wind-tunnel experiments. The application of data-driven modal decomposition methods, as an advanced technique to extract physically important features, has been introduced in detail. When discussing the panel aeroelastic performance, the enriched nonlinear behaviors are highlighted. "The involvement of shock waves excites complicated nonlinear behaviors in the aeroelastic response, such as chaotic motions and hysteresis phenomena. This constitutes unique characteristics different from classic aeroelastic problems." explained PhD student Yiwen He. The spatial and temporal characteristics of SBLIs modified by structural deformation and oscillation are analyzed, which motivates the potential shock control strategies.

Despite valuable insights provided by existing studies, several key challenges and difficulties persist in the relevant research, such as the lack of consideration for thermal loads and discrepancies in the reported spatial characteristics of SBLIs. "We believe the problems mentioned in the paper represent the future research frontiers," said Prof. Aiming Shi. "Further investigations will help to reveal the underlying physical mechanism and facilitate the design and optimization of high-speed vehicles, paving the way for safer, faster supersonic flights. This is also what we are currently investing efforts in."

Original Source

Aiming Shi, Yiwen He. A survey of panel aeroelasticity in shock-dominated flow: Perspectives from fluid-structure interactions and shock wave-boundary layer interactions [J]. Chinese Journal of Aeronautics, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cja.2025.103674.

About Chinese Journal of Aeronautics

Chinese Journal of Aeronautics (CJA) is an open access, peer-reviewed international journal covering all aspects of aerospace engineering, monthly published by Elsevier. The Journal reports the scientific and technological achievements and frontiers in aeronautic engineering and astronautic engineering, in both theory and practice. CJA is indexed in SCI (IF = 5.7, Q1), EI, IAA, AJ, CSA, Scopus.