Discrete Material and Thickness Optimization of laminated composite structures including failure criteria

Abstract

This work extends the Discrete Material and Thickness Optimization approach to structural optimization problems where strength considerations in the form of failure criteria are taken into account for laminated composite structures. It takes offset in the density approaches applied for stress constrained topology optimization of single-material problems and develops formulations for multi-material topology optimization problems applied for laminated composite structures. The method can be applied for both stress- and strain-based failure criteria. The large number of local constraints is reduced by the use of aggregate functions, and the developed approach is demonstrated for optimization problems involving both constant and varying thickness laminated composites.