stability analysis of a functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite plate integrated with piezoelectric layers under supersonic airflow

The dynamic and static instabilities of plates reinforced by carbon nanotubes which are fully covered by two piezoelectric layers subjected to supersonic airflow are investigated. for aero-elastic analysis of thin functionally graded carbon nanotube reinforced composite plate, classical plate theory, as well as first-order piston theory, has been applied. the effective material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plates are evaluated based on the rule of mixture with consideration of efficiency parameter. also, five various types of carbon nanotube distributions through the thickness direction are investigated. the distribution of electric potential across the piezoelectric thickness is assumed to be a quadratic function. then, two kinds of electric boundary conditions such as open circuit and closed circuit are considered. the coupled governing electro-mechanical equations are derived by using hamilton’s variation principle and electrostatic maxwell’s equation. the partial differential governing equations are transformed into a set of ordinary differential equations by utilizing galerkin’s approach. the result shows that the functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite plate integrated by two piezoelectric layers in open circuit condition has higher both flutter aerodynamic pressure and natural frequencies, in contrast with a similar plate in closed circuit conditions. in addition, the result elucidated that the stability region increase as the piezoelectric thickness increases.