Optimal Design of Variable-Stiffness Fiber-Reinforced Composites

Evangelos P. Hadjigeorgiou (), Christos A. Patsouras and Vassilios K. Kalpakides
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Evangelos P. Hadjigeorgiou: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45 110 Ioannina, Greece
Christos A. Patsouras: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45 110 Ioannina, Greece
Vassilios K. Kalpakides: School of Applied Mathematics and Physics, National Technical University of Athens, 157 80 Zografou, Greece

Mathematics, 2025, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: The concept of variable-stiffness composites allows the stiffness properties to vary spatially in the material. In the case of fiber-reinforced composites, the mechanical properties of the composite can be improved by tailoring the fiber orientations in a spatially optimal manner. In this paper, the problem of optimal spatial orientation of fibers in a two-dimensional composite structure under in-plane loading is studied, using the strain energy-minimizing method. The fiber orientation is assumed to be constant within each element of the model but varies from element to element. The optimal design problem is solved numerically using a global optimization method based on a genetic algorithm. Some numerical examples illustrate the efficiency and applicability of the method.

Keywords: fiber-reinforced composites; variable-stiffness composites; curvilinear fiber composites; optimal design; structural optimization; FEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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