Fluid-structure interaction analysis of nonlinear flapping dynamic behaviors of variable stiffness composite laminated plates in viscous flows

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the development of a numerical model for the analysis of nonlinear fluid–structure interaction problems of large-deformable curvilinear fiber-reinforced composite laminated plates in viscous flows. A higher-order shear deformation zig-zag theory in conjunction with nonlinear von Kármán strains is employed to accommodate the large deformations of variable stiffness composite laminated plates. An implicit partitioned fluid–structure interaction method based on an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian framework is adopted for dealing with the coupling of the large-deformable plate and the viscous flow. The validity of the proposed model and method is confirmed by comparing the computed results of a two-layered plate with those available solutions in the literature. Effects of material properties and fiber paths of composite plates on the periodic limit cycle oscillation and the wake-flow vortices are examined. It is found that symmetrical lay-ups of the constant stiffness composite laminated plates can produce asymmetrical flapping shapes, resulting in asymmetrical hairpin vortex structures in the wake flow. For a variable stiffness composite laminated plate, the flexibility of the leading or trailing sections can be adjusted by the curved fiber path, which in turn leads to changes in the plate flapping shapes.