RESPONSE SURFACE MODELING FOR OPTIMIZATION OF RING-STIFFENED POLYMER COMPOSITE PRESSURE HULL

摘要

Buckling failure of ring-stiffened composite pressure hulls is a key consideration in the design of submarine structures. The paper presents mathematical modeling of collapse pressure for the overall buckling of stiffened carbon/epoxy composite pressure hull subjected to hydrostatic pressure using the response surface model. The key parameters considered for the study are volume fraction, number of stiffeners, shell thickness, ring width, and ring height. Total 41 experiments were conducted as per the Box?Behnken design. Calculation of collapse pressure is done using the finite element method (FEM). The linear models were developed to predict the mass of the pressure hull and the collapse pressure due to overall buckling. Further, the design optimization of the pressure hull has been carried out to make the structure lighter in weight and stable at target hydrostatic pressures using the simplex algorithm. Results showed a 9 to 14% reduction in mass compared to plain cylindrical pressure hulls.