Topology optimisation of laminated composite plates and shells using optimality criteria

Laminated composite materials have the advantage of desired properties and are fast replacing the existing traditional materials in Civil Engineering construction. The present study aims to extend the study on the analysis of laminated composites plates and shells towards structural optimisation. Topology optimisation is performed using two different objective functions namely strain energy and fundamental frequency. The results of optimisation clearly show that the distribution of material is dependent on the laminae. The optimal arrangement of material obtained after using a cut-off relative density is a well coected grid and is examined in detail. The result shows that the optimal arrangement of material for a simply supported plate carrying a uniformly distributed load is at the centre of the edges and not towards the corners. Hence the optimal arrangement of beams using strain energy is to align by joining the centre of the edges similar to plus ‘+’ sign.