ABSTRACT
A method for the numerical investigation of aeroelastic phenomena is proposed so that random properties of aerodynamic forces can be taken into account. The numerical analysis of aeroelastic instabilities is based on eigenvalue problems with random coefficients, thus enabling the analysis of the random characteristics of critical flow speeds, respectively. The aerodynamic coefficients are treated as normally distributed random variables. In order to determine the statistical properties of the critical speeds, a spectral stochastic finite element procedure is applied. Hence, the reliability of structures against steady-state aeroelastic instabilities can be estimated.