Composite Lamina Model Design with the Use of Heuristic Optimization

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Materials Science
• Computational Mechanics

Background:

• Engineering design often involves under- or over-defined problems where direct solutions are infeasible.
• Problems with numerous unknown parameters or excessive requirements necessitate advanced solution methodologies.
• Numerical and optimization techniques are crucial for identifying optimal solutions in complex design spaces.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the application of heuristic optimization methods for solving underdetermined engineering design problems.
• To compare the efficacy of heuristic approaches against conventional direct methods in aircraft composite wing design.
• To demonstrate the optimization of composite lamina for minimum weight under strength and buckling constraints.

Main Methods:

• Utilized heuristic optimization techniques, specifically gradient descent and Tabu search.
• Applied these methods to the design of a composite wing skin for an aircraft.
• Compared heuristic solutions with those obtained through conventional direct design approaches.
• Optimized the composite lamina based on a minimum weight objective function, subject to strength and buckling failure criteria.

Main Results:

• Heuristic optimization methods successfully identified optimal solutions for underdetermined design tasks.
• Composite wing structures designed using heuristic methods exhibited significantly improved weight-to-load ratios compared to direct approaches.
• The studied heuristic approaches proved effective in navigating complex design spaces to find superior solutions.

Conclusions:

• Heuristic optimization offers a powerful alternative for tackling complex and underdetermined engineering design challenges.
• The application of gradient descent and Tabu search demonstrates a significant advantage over conventional methods for composite structure optimization.
• Optimizing for minimum weight while adhering to critical failure criteria is effectively achieved through heuristic strategies, leading to enhanced structural performance.