Design of laminated composite plates for maximum buckling load and vibration frequency

Abstract The optimal lamination arrangement of thick laminated composite plates for maximum buckling load and vibration frequency is studied via a multi-start global optimization technique. A shear deformable finite element in which the exact expressions for determining shear correction factors are adopted has been developed for the buckling and free vibration analysis of the plates. Utilizing the finite element, the optimal layups for the plates with maximum buckling loads or natural frequencies are designed via the multi-start global optimization technique. The proposed optimization algorithm has been proved to be efficient and effective in designing thick laminated composite plates. A number of examples of the design of symmetrically and antisymmetrically laminated composite plates with various material properties, side-to-thickness ratios, aspect ratios and different numbers of layers are given to illustrate the practical applications of the present method.