Publications

Journal Article

A Laminate Parametrization Technique for Discrete Ply-Angle Problems with Manufacturing Constraints

authors

G. J. Kennedy, and J. R. R. A. Martins

journal

Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 48(2):379–393, 2013

doi

10.1007/s00158-013-0906-9

PDF 
@article{Kennedy2013b,
  author = {Kennedy, Graeme J. and Martins, Joaquim R. R. A.},
  doi = {10.1007/s00158-013-0906-9},
  journal = {Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization},
  month = aug,
  number = {2},
  pages = {379--393},
  title = {A Laminate Parametrization Technique for Discrete Ply-Angle Problems with Manufacturing Constraints},
  volume = {48},
  year = {2013}
}
Google Scholar

In this paper we present a novel laminate parametrization technique for layered composite structures that accounts for problems in which the ply angles are limited to a discrete set. In the proposed technique, the classical laminate stiffnesses are expressed as a linear combination of the discrete options and design-variable weights. An exact l1 penalty function is employed to drive the designs towards discrete, 0-1 designs. The proposed tech- nique can be used as either an alternative or as an enhancement to SIMP-type methods, such as discrete material optimization (DMO). Unlike mixed-integer approaches, our laminate parametrization technique is well suited for gradient-based design optimization. The proposed laminate parametrization is demonstrated on compliance design of laminated plates and buckling design of a laminated stiffened panel. The results demonstrate that the approach is an effective alternative to DMO methods.