Aero-thermal-elasticity of plates in hypersonic flow

Fluid-structure interaction in high-speed flow has seen an increased interest among researchers in response to the worldwide race to sustainable hypersonic flight. The interaction between inertial, elastic, aerodynamic, and thermal loads in high Mach flows is an extension of classical aeroelasticity. To investigate the fundamental physics that govern the aero-thermal-elastic interaction, elastic plates are utilized in wind tunnel experiments for their relative simplicity of installation, manufacture, and analysis. Recent experiments investigate the response of elastic plates using advanced measurement techniques for pressure, temperature, and deformation. This enables a detailed and direct correlation between theoretical and computational results covering a wide range of phenomena including shock-wave/boundary-layer and structure interaction, flutter onset, limit-cycle oscillation, and impinging shocks. In this talk, a theoretical-computational model of plates in hypersonic flow is presented, and its use for the analysis of linear and nonlinear static and dynamic problems is demonstrated. Recent extensions of the model are presented with unsteady aerodynamic heating and piezoelectric patches that double as strain sensors and structural elements. Important parts of the structure and fluid models are emphasized through the lens of fluid-structure interaction including non-ideally clamped in-plane boundary conditions and turbulent pressure fluctuations.