A comprehensive investigation on optimum layer thickness and fiber orientations of laminated composite plates against buckling failure under various loading conditions

This paper presents a comprehensive investigation on optimum layer thickness and fiber orientations of laminated composite plates against buckling under complex loading conditions by using a new optimization procedure that effectively utilizes computational efforts. In this proposed procedure, a finite element model of the laminated composite plates is developed for the buckling analysis and the interior point optimization procedure is used to maximize the buckling coefficient, aiming to determine the optimum values of fiber orientation angles and thickness. In optimization scenarios, the laminated composite plates are subjected to single and complex loading conditions, including compression, shear, bending and a combination of two or more of these loading types. The computational performance of the proposed optimization procedure is evaluated to investigate and present the effect of various factors including the number of layers, length-to-thickness ratios, aspect ratios, and boundary conditions on the optimum buckling analysis.