Designing laminated composites using random search techniques

Optimum Design of Composite Structures: A Literature Survey (1969–2009)

“…The problem is to find the design resulting in the minimum value for an undesired feature or response of the structure or the maximum value for a desired feature. Accordingly, in some of the studies, the goal was to minimize laminate thickness, 12,17,35,38,59,60,64,83,84,110,129,136,143,155,157,165,170,174,188,191,206,211,225,234,253,254,259,265,267,268,282,286,293,315,317,319,333,343–345,350,351,360,379,380,387,396,408,410,411,415,428,438,498,501,505,535,539,541,592,595,617,…”

“…886 Other than behavioral constraints, side constraints may be applied; e.g. design space may be restricted to positive values of thickness and cross-sectional area 50,51,529 ; as side constraints, upper and lower limits may be set for lamina or laminate thickness 8,18,25,36,47,50,51,53,59,61,69,74,82,84,86,92,96–100,102,105,106,108,109,120,122,123,136,140,141,144,147,157,162,181,182,192,200,202,206,217,230,231,238,240,267,274,283,285,288,292,299,305,308,318,326,330,…”

Optimal Stacking Sequence Design of Laminated Composite Shells

“…The usual object of optimum design is to design layer thickness or layer orientation which will give the minimum weight [l] or the maximum stiffness [2,3].…”

A Case Study: Composite Structure Design Optimization

“…A series of studies [6,7,12,13,16,28,30,32] have taken this global issue into account. In [6,7,16], the objective function was to maximize the performance of the composite structures, whereas the objective function in [12,13,28,30,32] was to minimize the weight of the composite structures. This chapter is based mainly on this series of studies, and we focus here on optimization problems whose objective is to minimize the weight of the structure in the later examples.…”

“…In addition to the high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, composite materials also allow the engineer to design the material as weh as the structure by tailoring the directional stiffness and strength as required for the structure [6,7,27]. On one hand, this can be viewed as an advantage because it offers added flexibility in the design and the ability to precisely meet the requirements.…”