Aerothermoelastic flutter analysis of variable angle tow composite laminated plates in supersonic flow

A theoretical model is developed to investigate the aerothermoelastic flutter behavior of variable angle tow (VAT) composite laminated plates on elastic foundation in supersonic flow with general boundary conditions. The equations of motion of the VAT composite laminated plate are established by adopting the first-order shear deformation theory and the supersonic piston theory. The composite laminated plate is considered to be lying on an elastic foundation (such as a thermal protection shield) on one side and exposed to supersonic airflow on the other side. The displacement components of the structure are expanded into Chebyshev polynomials multiplied by the boundary characteristic functions to satisfy the geometric or natural boundary conditions. To validate the proposed theoretical model, a finite element (FE) model is also established by ABAQUS, and the numerical results fit well with that of the developed theoretical model. The effects of the boundary conditions, thermal loads, elastic foundations and laminate layouts on the flutter characteristics of the VAT composite plate are revealed and discussed in detail. This work can provide a reference for the dynamic design of the VAT composite laminates in the aerospace engineering.