Optimal design of variable stiffness laminated composite truncated cones under lateral external pressure

The purpose of this paper is to present optimal designs for variable stiffness laminated composite truncated cones under lateral external pressure. The objective is to maximize the failure load which is defined as the minimum of the buckling load and the first-ply failure (FPF) load. The numerical results are obtained using a semi-analytical degenerated shell element based on a refined first-order shear deformable shell theory and the influences of the pressure stiffness (PS) and the thickness/radius ratio are taken into account. A 2D degenerated shell element is also used for verification purposes. Results are presented for the related verification problems solved and the semi-analytical shell element is validated. Optimal designs, where FPF and buckling are imposed as design constraints, are presented for laminated composite thin and relatively thick cones having variable thickness and ply-angle. A simple graphical optimization technique and a modified Micro-Genetic Algorithm are employed. It is shown that, FPF constraint may be active for thicker cones having lower cone angles, PS slightly decreases the buckling pressures, and the stacking sequence has considerable influence on the failure load. The numerical results presented show that restraining the large end against rotation significantly increases the failure load.