Vibration and Flutter Analysis of Functionally Graded Carbon Nanotube-reinforced Composite Regular Polygon Built-up Structures in Supersonic Airflow

Abstract The paper is dedicated to the vibration and flutter analysis of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) regular polygon built-up (RPB) structures with general boundary conditions. By employing the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and quasi-steady supersonic piston theory, the energy functional expressions of the system are formulated. The governing equations of the system are derived based on the Hamilton’s principle and the solutions for the dynamic problems of the system are obtained by using the modified Ritz method. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed model are validated by comparing the obtained solutions with those from the FEM and literature. Finally, the effects of the boundary condition, volume fraction of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and CNT distribution on the vibration and flutter characteristics of the CNTRC RPB structures are discussed by carrying out the parametric studies.