Optimization for Buckling Resistance of Fiber-Composite Laminate Shells with and without Cutouts.

摘要

Fiber-composite laminate shell structures have been used increasingly in advanced engineering structures, such as aircraft fuselages, deep submersibles and surface ships. Among various critical problems in the applications of fiber composite laminate structures, deformation and failure under compression have been of significant concern. In compressive failure of composite shell structures, optimization of variables is of critical importance in designing reliable composite structures and better understanding of the compressive structural failure behavior. In this report, based on the sequential linear programming technique, an effective optimization method and its associated algorithm are developed suitable for a systematic study of buckling stability and design of fiber composite laminate shell structures with complex geometry under general loading. The optimization method is used to study the following important buckling optimization problems of composite shells: (1) optimization of fiber orientations for maximizing buckling resistance of composite shells without cutouts, (2) optimization of fiber orientations for maximizing buckling resistance of composite shells with circular cutouts, and (3) optimization of cutout geometry for maximizing buckling resistance of a composite shell.