Fully-Coupled Fluid-Structure Formulation of a Baffled Rectangular Orthotropic Plate Using the Boundary Element and Finite Element Methods

Abstract

Laminated composite structures have become important and proven structural materials in aerospace and ocean vehicles. However, due to the orthotropy of laminated composite materials the analysis of these structures is complex and usually cannot be adequately performed using classical methods. This paper describés the formulation of the fully coupled fluid-structure interaction of a laminated composite plate and its surrounding fluid medium. The solution technique involves the use of the finite element method for modeling the structural response and the boundary element method for modeling the acoustic field. The model incorporates the Mindlin plate theory which includes five degrees of freedom per node. Storage requirements are reduced by grouping complex numbers. Finally, the fully coupled fluid-structure interaction involving laminated composite plates is modeled using the FEM-BEM model. Results are given for various plate materials and geometries and surrounding fluids.