Flutter and thermal buckling control for composite laminated panels in supersonic flow

• For the linear structural system, the in-plane thermal load is taken into account in the structural modeling.
• The effects of ply angle of the laminated panel on the flutter and thermal buckling are analyzed.
• The significance of ply angle of different lamina for different type of laminated panel is investigated.
• The flutter and thermal buckling are suppressed simultaneously by the new controller.

Aerothermoelastic analysis for composite laminated panels in supersonic flow is carried out. The flutter and thermal buckling control for the panels are also investigated. In the modeling for the equation of motion, the influences of in-plane thermal load on the transverse bending deflection are taken into account, and the unsteady aerodynamic pressure in supersonic flow is evaluated by the linear piston theory. The governing equation of the structural system is developed applying the Hamilton's principle. In order to study the influences of aerodynamic pressure on the vibration mode shape of the panel, both the assumed mode method (AMM) and the finite element method (FEM) are used to derive the equation of motion. The proportional feedback control method and the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) are used to design the controller. The aeroelastic stability of the structural system is analyzed using the frequency-domain method. The effects of ply angle of the laminated panel on the critical flutter aerodynamic pressure and the critical buckling temperature change are researched. The flutter and thermal buckling control effects using the proportional feedback control and the LQR are compared. An effective method which can suppress the flutter and thermal buckling simultaneously is proposed.