Reliability design optimization of composite structures based on PSO together with FEA

The present work aims to develop a method for reliability-based optimum design of composite structures. A procedure combining particle swarm optimization (PSO) and finite element analysis (FEA) has been proposed. Numerical examples for the reliability design optimization (RDO) of a laminate and a composite cylindrical shell are worked out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. Then a design for composite pressure vessels is studied. The advantages and necessity of RDO over the conventional equi-strength design are addressed. Examples show that the proposed method has good stability and is efficient in dealing with the probabilistic optimal design of composite structures. It may serve as an effective tool to optimize other complicated structures with uncertainties.