Parametric study on supersonic flutter of angle-ply laminated plates using shear deformable finite element method

Abstract

The influence of fiber orientation, flow yaw angle and length-to-thickness ratio on flutter characteristics of angle-ply laminated plates in supersonic flow is studied by finite element approach. The structural model is established using the Reissner-Mindlin theory in which the transverse shear deformation is considered. The aerodynamic pressure is evaluated by the quasi-steady first-order piston theory. The equations of motion are formulated based on the principle of virtual work. With the harmonic motion assumption, the flutter boundary is determined by solving a series of complex eigenvalue problems. Numerical study shows that (1) The flutter dynamic pressure and the coalescence of flutter modes depend on fiber orientation, flow yaw angle and length-to-thickness ratio; (2) The laminated plate with all fibers aligned with the flow direction gives the highest flutter dynamic pressure, but a slight yawing of the flow from the fiber orientation results in a sharp decrease of the flutter dynamic pressure; (3) The angle-ply laminated plate with fiber orientation angle equal to flow yaw angle gives high flutter dynamic pressure, but not the maximum flutter dynamic pressure; (4) With the decrease of length-to-thickness ratio, an adverse effect due to mode transition on the flutter dynamic pressure is found.