Aero-thermoelastic stability of functionally graded plates

In this paper, an analytical investigation intended to determine the aero-thermoelastic stability margins of functionally graded panels is carried out. For this purpose, piston theory aerodynamics has been employed to model quasi-steady aerodynamic loading. The material properties of the plate are assumed to be graded continuously across the panel thickness. A simple power-law and the Mori–Tanaka scheme are used for estimating the effective material properties such as temperature-dependent thermoelastic properties. The effects of compressive in-plane loads and both uniform and through the thickness non-linear temperature distributions are also considered. Hamilton’s principle is used to determine the coupled partial differential equations of motion. Using Galerkin’s method, the derived equations are transformed into a set of coupled ordinary differential equations, and then solved by numerical time integration. Some examples comparing the stability margins of functionally graded panels with those of plates made of pure metals and pure ceramics are presented. It is shown that the use of functionally graded materials can yield an increase or decrease of the aeroelastic stability in the supersonic flow for different regions.