Aerodynamics Of The Free And Forced Oscillation Of A Disk At Subsonic Speeds

Detailed studies were made of the free and forced oscillation of disks constrained to rotate about a fixed axis normal to the free-stream velocity. When the disk is free to rotate it oscillates about its axis at a definite frequency but with slowly varying amplitude and phase. Analog computer elements were used to make detailed measurements of the static restoring moment, dynamic restoring moment, average damping moment, statistical properties of the disk motion, and the power spectrum of the fluctuating turbulent moment acting on a fixed disk. The measurements show that the impressed forcing function that causes the oscillation originates in the turbulent fluctuations in the disk wake. Using the measurements and the theory for forced random oscillations of a linear system, good qualitative prediction was made of the oscillation frequency, in all cases, and the mean square oscillation amplitude, for one particular case with very low friction of the supporting pivot. (Author).