Abstract:Abstract: This paper presents a comparison of thermal flutter characteristics between flat and curved composite panels. Three layup types are introduced to form laminated panels modeled by Finite Element Method (FEM). The nonlinear static analysis is firstly implemented to evaluate thermal effect on structural stiffness and high supersonic flutter analysis is then performed on the panel with updated rigidity. The second order piston theory is employed to represent high supersonic aerodynamics and the flutter speed is predicted by PK method. It is found that the flutter speed of heated panels decrease linearly with elevated temperature increasing. This decreasing tendency moves faster for quasi-isotropic laminates compared with orthotropic laminates in the case of curved panels, whereas the flat panel case is on the contrary. The results show that flutter modes of curved panels are strongly depending on the layup type; however, flutter modes keep consistent for flat panels.