Aeroelastic flutter analysis of functionally graded spinning cylindrical shells reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets in supersonic flow

Abstract

Abstract Aeroelastic analysis of functionally graded spinning cylindrical shells reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets in supersonic flow is studied. Multilayer functionally graded graphene platelets reinforced composite cylindrical shell based on the first-order shear deformation theory are examined. The supersonic flow is modeled through the use of first order piston theory. The effective Young’s modulus, mass density and Poisson’s ratio of nanocomposites are calculated based on the modified Halpin-Tsai model and rule of mixture. The coupled governing equations of motion and associated boundary conditions are developed by applying extended Hamilton principle. Galerkin technique is utilized to convert the coupled equations of motion to a general eigenvalue problem. In this investigation, four graphene platelets distribution patterns through the thickness of shell, i.e., UD, FG- Λ , FG- X and FG-O are considered. The effects of weight fraction, distribution patterns, number of layers, aspect ratio and spinning velocity on the flutter boundary are expressed. The results point out that the larger surface area related to more distributing graphene platelets near the inner and outer surfaces of the cylindrical shell predicts the most effective reinforcing effect. Furthermore, to improve significantly the stiffness of cylindrical shell, a small amount of extra graphene nanoplatelets as reinforcing nanofillers is an efficient way.