Aerothermoelastic analysis of composite laminated trapezoidal panels in supersonic airflow

The aerothermoelastic properties of composite laminated trapezoidal panels considering the compressibility of supersonic airflow and shock wave are studied. Due to the irregular configuration of composite laminated trapezoidal panel and complex thermal fluid–structure interaction, it is impossible to solve this problem by analytical methods. An effective finite element method (FEM) is developed to establish temperature equation and aerothermoelastic equation of motion of the complex trapezoidal panel. The first order piston theory is employed to evaluate the aerodynamic pressure. Based on the developed FEM, the thermal diffusion equation and the Galerkin’s method are applied to establish the temperature equation of the panel, and the complex temperature distribution of the panel is obtained. Combining the thermal and aeroelastic models, the aerothermoelastic equation of motion of the composite trapezoidal panel is established using Hamilton’s principle. Through the numerical analyses, some useful and significant results are obtained, and the advantages and disadvantages of various parameters of the panels are summarized. Because of the aerodynamic heating under the supersonic airflow, the buckling of the panel caused by thermal effect and the flutter caused by supersonic airflow are discussed considering the influences of various parameters. The interaction of the thermal and aerodynamic forces is also analyzed.