AbstractThis paper presents the results of an aeroelastic optimization study. In this study the weight of a large aspect ratio panel immersed in high Mach number supersonic flow is minimized subject to the requirement that a critical aeroelastic parameter for flutter be held within specified limits. A refined finite element technique is used to model the panel flutter equilibrium equations, equations which act as constraints on the design search. The optimization mechanism itself is studied and discussed to provide qualitative results which may be useful to the solution of other aeroelastic optimization problems. The numerical results of this investigation are compared to converged numerical results to illustrate finite element accuracy. The results of the study show that the weight savings and material distribution found with an effective finite element model are comparable to those found by more complicated numerical methods.