Abstract
Composites are experiencing a new era. The spatial resolution at which is to date possible to build up complex architectured microstructures through additive manufacturing-based and sintering of powder metals 3D printing techniques, as well as the recent improvements in both filament winding and automated fiber deposition processes, are opening new unforeseeable scenarios for applying optimization strategies to the design of high-performance structures and metamaterials that could previously be only theoretically conceived. Motivated by these new possibilities, the present work, by combining computational methods, analytical approaches and experimental analysis, shows how finite element Design Optimization algorithms can be ad hoc rewritten by identifying as design variables the orientation of the reinforcing fibers in each ply of a layered structure for redesigning fiber-reinforced composites exhibiting at the same time high stiffness and toughening, two features generally in competition each other. To highlight the flexibility and the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, after a brief recalling of the essential theoretical remarks and the implemented procedure, selected example applications are finally illustrated on laminated plates under different boundary conditions, cylindrical layered shells with varying curvature subjected to point loads and composite tubes made of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers, recently employed as structural components in advanced aerospace engineering applications.
Highlights
Fiber reinforced composites (FRC) have found extensive use in advanced applications of many engineering fields thanks to their high stiffness/weight ratio and high structural performances, which are often the result of specific design and manufacturing strategies that aim to optimize the response of these composite structures to specific working conditions
Design Optimization procedures have been applied to optimize the mechanical response of different composite structures
The implementation of the optimization strategy and all the simulations were performed in AnsysÒ Multiphysics environment (Ansys Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA) by developing a custom-made procedure based on the Ansys Parametric Design Language
Summary
Fiber reinforced composites (FRC) have found extensive use in advanced applications of many engineering fields thanks to their high stiffness/weight ratio and high structural performances, which are often the result of specific design and manufacturing strategies that aim to optimize the response of these composite structures to specific working conditions This determined an increasing interest in the study of new possible design solutions aimed to enhance the performances of laminate shell structures under prescribed regimes through the appropriate choice of materials and the determination of the optimal fiber orientation for each FRC layer [21, 47].
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