Title: Composing composites: a paradigm of reversed design

Authors: S. Koussios, A. Beukers

Addresses: Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Design and Production of Composite Structures, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS, Delft, The Netherlands. ' Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Design and Production of Composite Structures, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, 2629 HS, Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract: The challenging task of designing a structure that provides optimal properties while satisfying an extensive collection of sometimes conflicting requirements seems to get more complicated when composite materials are to be applied. The reason for this phenomenon lies in the anisotropic mechanical behaviour of such materials and the restrictive character of the associated manufacturing processes. Next to the classical design methodologies, the so-called reversed approach can play here an important role. In this case, the geometry of the structure is adapted in such a way that the shape-dependent reinforcement layout does coincide with the optimal one, as dictated by structural analysis. In this paper we compare the two methods and demonstrate the reverse principle on pressurised composite structures.

Keywords: reverse design; composites; shape parameters; fibre orientation; optimisation; structural analysis; shape-dependent reinforcement layout; pressurised composite structures; design process.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2007.014878

Journal of Design Research, 2007 Vol.5 No.3, pp.302 - 316

Published online: 14 Aug 2007 *

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