Dynamics and stability of an axially moving plate interacting with surrounding airflow

The dynamics and stability of an axially moving plate interacting with surrounding axial airflow are investigated. The dynamic model of the axially moving plate is established based on the Kirchhoff-Love plate theory and the linear potential flow model. The natural frequencies of the plate under different moving velocities and airflow velocities are calculated by solving the generalized eigenvalue problems of the dynamic system, from which the stability of the plate is analyzed. The effects of the surrounding airflow and the length to width ratio of the plate on the critical divergence velocity and the flutter velocity are discussed. From the simulation, it can be seen that with the flow velocity increasing, the natural frequencies of the plate decrease and then couple, resulting in the plate losing stability of the divergence and flutter types. With the length to width ratio of the plate increasing, the critical divergence velocity and the flutter velocity of the plate decrease. The critical divergence velocity and flutter velocity of the plate in surrounding airflow are lower than those in vacuum, which indicates that it is necessary to consider the effects of the surrounding airflow when analyzing the stability of the axially moving plate.