PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

Abstract

The design of composite structures is far from straightforward because of the anisotropy of the building materials. Many practical considerations on the subject ought to be addressed. First, common restrictions imposed on the layup of laminates, such as symmetry, balance, and population rules, are investigated. Rules for filtration of imposed multiple loadsets are also established. Next, the issues of design optimization itself are addressed. Netting analysis, although very tempting;, is proven to be wrong. Methods of local and global optimization are surveyed and confronted Major differences between statically determinate and indeterminate structures, illustrated by typical beam problems, are raised For the purpose of global structural optimization, superplies, sublaminates, and ply drops were introduced, along with new design and optimization criteria by Manne and Tsai [1-3]. Direct applications of the latter, such as easy manufacturing, stiffness-controlled and hybrid designs are provided for composite plates. Finally, the benefits and weaknesses of plydrops and sublaminates are evaluated critically.