22nd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Harrogate, UK, 28 August - 1st September, 2000
Paper ICAS 2000-4.1.1

OPTIMIZATION OF COMPOSITE AIRCRAFT PANELS USING EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION METHODS

P. Kaletta, K. Wolf
Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Keywords: composite structures, structural optimisation, evolution strategies

The optimisation of laminated composite structures is a highly nonlinear problem with both continuous and discrete design variables. For this kind of optimisation problem particularly evolutionary algorithms are much better suited than traditional techniques, based on mathematical programming principles. In this paper an approach is presented that uses evolutionary strategies for the minimum weight design of composite structures. In order to reduce the computer running time, the inherent parallel structure of evolution strategies has been fully utilized in the computer code, making the program well suited for multi-processor environments. Since the finite element method is employed for the structural analysis task, the optimisation technique can be applied to any kind of structure. As an example the weight of a stiffened composite panel is minimised. The obtained results show that the developed evolutionary optimisation procedure is a powerful tool for designing complex aircraft structures made of composite materials.

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