Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of a Laminated Composite Sandwich Panel With a Magnetorheological Fluid Core Under Yawed Supersonic Airflow

Abstract

In this study, we conducted an aeroelastic stability analysis of a laminated composite magnetorheological fluid (MRF) sandwich panel in supersonic airflow for varying yawed angles. The aeroelastic equations for a rectangular sandwich panel (MRF core layer and composite cross-ply laminate constraining and host layers) were established using a MIN3 plate element. Aerodynamic forces for different yawed angles would result in different coupled flutter boundaries of the panel. The first-order piston theory with a flow-yawed angle was employed. The flutter dynamic pressure was obtained through eigenvalue analysis. The effects of various parameters such as the magnetic field intensity, MRF core and constraining layer thicknesses, ply orientation, and yawed flow angle on the flutter dynamic pressure were studied for the simple- and fixed-support boundary conditions. Our results demonstrated that the flutter dynamic pressure of the laminated composite MRF sandwich panel (i) increased for increasing magnetic field intensity and constraining layer thickness; (ii) initially decreased and then increased with the increasing MRF core thickness; and (iii) was strongly influenced by the ply orientation and yawed flow angle.