Computationally efficient optimal design of hygrothermally stable laminate with bend–twist coupling by analytical and numerical strategy

Abstract

Abstract: Bent–twist coupling can be achieved by both asymmetric and symmetric laminate composites. Asymmetric laminates exhibit both in-plane and out-of-plane hygrothermal deformations, while symmetric laminates exhibit only in-plane hygrothermal deformation. These hygrothermal deformations lead to dimensional instability of structures in operational conditions due to temperature and moisture changes and hence need to be eliminated. Two generalized stacking sequences have been proposed, which inherently satisfy the hygrothermal stability conditions and provide the required bend–twist coupling. Optimization has been done by both analytical and numerical techniques. These optimized results are verified by comparing them with conventional constrained numerical optimization results, showing the excellent agreement between them. The comparison of computational time data suggests that the proposed stacking sequence is more computationally efficient than constrained numerical optimization. The sensitivity analysis has been performed to examine the robustness of the optimized sequence, suggesting that the error distribution is within .