Aeroelastic analysis of rectangular plates coupled to sloshing fluid

In this study, an aeroelastic model that accounts for the fluid–structure interaction is developed to investigate vibration and stability of rectangular plates in contact with sloshing fluid on one side and under supersonic aeroelastic load on the other side. The fifth-order shear deformation theory, which is capable of considering rotary inertia and transverse shear stress, is employed to model the structure. Bulging and sloshing modes of the incompressible, inviscid and irrotational fluid are obtained with satisfying Laplace’s equation and fluid boundary conditions. The first-order piston theory is applied to consider the supersonic aeroelastic load. On the basis of Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations of the coupled fluid–structure system are derived and discretized using the Galerkin method. Numerical results for specific cases are compared with available results in the literature and an excellent agreement is observed. In the discussion section, influences of various parameters such as the dimensions of the fluid domain, plate dimensions and aerodynamic parameters on the natural frequencies and flutter behavior are studied.