Lamination Parameter Interpolation Method for Design of Manufacturable Variable-Stiffness Composite Panels

Abstract

Variable-stiffness laminates have lately drawn attention because they offer potential for additional structural performance improvements. In the optimization studies, laminate stiffness properties can be described efficiently by using lamination parameters, which is a well-established formulation for constant-stiffness laminates. However, ensuring manufacturability in the design of variable-stiffness laminates with lamination parameters is difficult. In this paper, a novel method for the design of variable-stiffness composite panels using lamination parameters is proposed. The method constrains the design space by controlling the magnitude and direction of change for the lamination parameters, and subsequently leads to a smooth change in the fiber angles. The method is used to maximize the fundamental frequencies of several panels as example cases. The solutions are calculated for various panel geometries and boundary conditions using the developed finite element analysis software. After finding optimal lamination parameter distributions, corresponding discrete fiber angles and fiber paths are retrieved, and the minimum radii of curvature are calculated. The results demonstrate that the proposed design method provides manufacturable smooth fiber paths while using the compact stiffness formulation feature of lamination parameters.