Aerothermoelastic analysis of lattice sandwich composite panels in supersonic airflow

This paper is devoted to investigate the aerothermoelastic properties of the composite sandwich panels with two- and three-dimensional lattice cores in supersonic airflow. Both the top and bottom face sheets of the sandwich panels are composite laminated panels. The two- and three-dimensional lattice cores are composed of triangular grids and pyramidal trusses, respectively. The first-order shear deformation theory is used in the structural modeling. The equivalent thermal expansion coefficients of the triangular grid are obtained by the physical and geometric relations of the deformed core only under the temperature change. The equation of motion of the structural system is formulated using the Hamilton’s principle. The supersonic piston theory is used to evaluate the aerodynamic pressure. The aerothermoelastic properties of the lattice sandwich panels are analyzed by the frequency-domain method. The influences of parameters of the lattice core on the aeroelastic stability of the sandwich panel are investigated. The aerothermoelastic properties of the sandwich composite panels with two- and three-dimensional lattice cores are compared. Some useful results are obtained from the present study.