STRENGTH OPTIMIZATION OF LAMINATED COMPOSITES WITH RESPECT TO LAYER THICKNESS AND OR LAYER ORIENTATION ANGLE

This paper deals with the strength optimization problem of laminated composites under in-plane loading based upon the mathematical programming method. Design variables are the layer orientation angles as well as the layer thicknesses. New treatment of design variables with respect to the layer orientation angles is presented. A technique is also proposed to delete the strength constraints of almost zero thickness layers. This new treatment gives an efficient optimization approach of laminated composites.