Whirl Flutter: An Experimental, Numerical, and Analytical Study on a Small-Scale Demonstrator
Giusi MAGLIOCCO, Francesco MARULO, Michele GUIDA, Giovanni MARULO, Emilio DI LORENZO
Abstract. Whirl flutter is a critical aeroelastic instability arising from the coupling of aerodynamic, structural, and gyroscopic effects in turboprop propulsion systems. This work investigates the phenomenon through analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches using a Whirl Flutter Small-Scale Demonstrator (WFSD). The demonstrator reproduces the dynamic behaviour of a turboprop configuration with two degrees of freedom, namely pitch and yaw. Analytical models based on strip theory, numerical simulations performed in MSC NASTRAN, and wind tunnel tests were used to evaluate natural frequencies and aeroelastic stability. The results show a strong correlation among the three methodologies, validating the modelling framework and providing reliable data to support the design of safer and more efficient propeller-driven systems.
Keywords
Whirl Flutter, Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA), Operational Modal Analysis (OMA), Aeroelasticity
Published online 7/20/2026, 4 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Giusi MAGLIOCCO, Francesco MARULO, Michele GUIDA, Giovanni MARULO, Emilio DI LORENZO, Whirl Flutter: An Experimental, Numerical, and Analytical Study on a Small-Scale Demonstrator, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 69, pp 362-365, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904251-65
The article was published as article 65 of the book CEAS – AIDAA Conference 2025
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] Proceedings of Symposium on Aaeroelastic & Dynamic Modeling Technology, RTD-AIA(Research & Technology Division Aerospace Industries Association); RTD – TDR- 63-4197 Part I
[2] Jr. Abbott, T. Frank, H. Kelley, N. Hampton, D. Kenneth. Investigation of propeller-power-plant autoprecession boundaries for a dynamic-aeroelastic model of a four-engine turboprop transport airplane. 1963.
[3] P. Hylton. Analyzing a simple prop-whirl-flutter model using modern analysis tools. In: IJME Intertech 2006 international conference, New Jersey, USA. 2006.
[4] J. Čecrdle. Whirl flutter of turboprop aircraft structures. Elsevier, 2023.
[5] R. Kvaternik, G. Kohn, Jerome S. An experimental and analytical investigation of proprotor whirl flutter. 1977.
[6] G.M Gagliardi, D. Marano, F. Marulo. Numerical and experimental investigation of whirl flutter characteristics in a small-scale demonstrator. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 2022, 35.3: 04022025. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)AS.1943-5525.0001422
[7] Ted Rose and Bill Rodden. Propeller/Nacelle Whirl Flutter Addition to MSC/Nastran. Technical report, The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation, March 1989
