Design optimization of laminated composites using a new variant of simulated annealing

The aim of this study is to minimize the thickness (or weight) of laminated composite plates subject to both in-plane and out-of-plane loading. A new variant of the simulated annealing algorithm is proposed to optimize the lay-up design. Fiber orientation angle and number of plies in each lamina are used as design variables. Considering static failure as the critical failure mode, the maximum stress and Tsai–Wu criteria are used together to predict failure. Numerical results show that the optimization methodology proposed in this study can find the globally optimum laminate designs even with a high number of design variables.