Size optimization method for controlling the buckling mode shape and critical buckling temperature of composite structures

Abstract

The present study develops a novel size optimization method to control the buckling mode shape and associated buckling temperatures of plates. From a structural stability point of view, predicting the buckling temperature and mode shape of structures is one of the most important research topics in engineering. However, coming up with optimized engineering structures through engineering intuition for controlling these aspects is challenging. To address this limitation, the present study proposes the combination of finite element simulation and a size optimization scheme. Based on the idea that the structural buckling temperature and mode shape of a plate are mainly influenced by the thickness of the plate, in the optimization process, the thickness values of the divided sections of the target plate are set as the design variables. The buckling mode shape and buckling temperature are set as the objective functions, subjected to the total volume of the target plate. By applying the size optimization scheme, it is possible to determine the optimal thickness distributions for inducing the desired buckling mode shapes and buckling temperature values. The validity of the proposed size optimization method has been verified using several numerical examples.