Nonlinear aero-thermoelastic analysis of homogeneous and functionally graded plates in supersonic airflow using coupled models

In this paper, the aeroelastic behavior of homogeneous and functionally graded two- and three-dimensional flat plates is studied under supersonic airflow. The effects of coupled modeling of the aerodynamic heating with flight conditions and the thermal degradation of the plate are investigated, too. The von-Karman nonlinear strains, piston theory and a combination of simple rule of mixtures and the Mori-Tanaka scheme are used to model the structure, aerodynamic and material, respectively. The derived equations of motion are solved using Galerkin's procedure along with the Runge-Kutta numerical technique. Finally, some examples are solved using the developed program and some conclusions are made. It is shown that under real flight conditions and using coupled model, the aerodynamic heating is very severe and the type of instability is divergence. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.