Aerothermoelastic Analysis of Functionally Graded Plates Using Generalized Differential Quadrature Method

Abstract In the present paper, the aerothermoelastic behavior of Functionally Graded (FG) plates under supersonic airflow is investigated using Generalized Differential Quadrature Method (GDQM). The structural model is considered based on the classical plate theory and the von Karman strain-displacement relations are utilized to involve the nonlinear behavior of the plate. To consider the supersonic aerodynamic loads on the plate, the first order piston theory is applied. The material properties of the FG panel are assumed to be temperature independent and alter in the thickness direction according to a power law distribution. The temperature distribution on the surface of the plate is assumed to be constant and in the thickness direction is obtained by one-dimensional steady conductive heat transfer equation. The discretized governing equations via GDQM are solved by the fourth order Runge-Kutta method. Comparison of the obtained results with those available in literature confirms the accuracy and ability of the GDQM to perform the aerothermoelastic analysis of FG plates. Also, the effect of some important parameters such as Mach number, in-plane thermal load, plate aspect ratio and volume fraction index on the plate aerothermoelastic behavior is examined.