Optimization of progressive failure behavior of notched composite plates

In this study, the structural optimization of notched composite laminates under in plane shear and normal tension loads were carried out. The objective function of the optimization problem was selected to be the maximum stiffness and the minimum strain respectively along with the orientation angles as the optimization variables. In order to determine the ultimate failure load, a previously developed progressive failure approach was adopted. Although numerous studies exist in the literature on this subject, within the scope of the present study, correlations with the experimental results were examined qualitatively by comparing predicted and experimentally determined damage states. Prior to obtaining the optimized results, a further investigation into the response of the structure under pure shear was studied by a parametric approach. A zeroth order optimization tool known as Nelder&Mead was utilized to obtain the optimized configurations. It was shown that the developed optimization scheme is suitable for an exact determination of maximum stiffness and the minimum strain for the given materials and geometry. The results were presented for various load configurations.