Buckling analysis and stacking sequence optimization of symmetric laminated composite plates

Abstract

Symmetric laminated composite plates are frequently used in structural design due to their high strength to weight ratio. The stacking sequence of these laminates is known to have a major impact on the performance of these structural members. As a measure of performance often the buckling load of a laminated composite plate is used. In this study the buckling load of a laminated composite plate is obtained using analytical techniques. In order to optimize the structural performance a newly developed and very efficient meta-heuristic technique called the Jaya algorithm has been utilized. The fiber orientation angles of the plies as well as the ply thicknesses are regarded as continuous valued design variables and allowed to vary randomly while keeping the symmetry of the configuration which resulted in dispersed symmetric plates. CFRP is chosen as the plate material due to being the most frequently used composite material in the industry. The material properties and plate aspect ratio are treated as constant values. It was shown that allowing the fiber orientation angles to take values other than the commonly used 0°, ± 45°, 90° combined with proper thickness sequence can greatly enhance the structural performance. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.