Nonlinear aeroelastic stability analysis of in-plane functionally graded metal nanocomposite thin panels in supersonic flow

Abstract

This work studies the nonlinear post-instability responses of in-plane bi-directional functionally graded (FG) simply-supported and clamped thin panels. The post-flutter responses of panels subjected to a supersonic airflow are considered as the dynamic case and the post-buckling responses as the static case. The effect of thermal and mechanical in-plane loadings on the panels’ stability and post-instability is analyzed. The first-order piston theory is used for the aerodynamic modeling and the classical plate theory (CPT) along with the nonlinear von-Karman's strains for the structural modeling. The finite element method (FEM) is used for the analysis. The responses of the functionally graded panels are compared to those of the homogeneous panels. Magnesium reinforced by Silicon Carbide nanoparticles composite is considered in this work because of its high stiffness to weight ratio giving it a great potential for aerospace applications. The high stiffening effect of the nano-reinforcements allows the multi-dimensional material grading to maximize the panels’ performance using the minimum amount of the nano-reinforcement.