Abstract
This paper presents an optimization procedure to design laminated composites with improved damage resistance and tolerance. The ant colony optimization algorithm is used to minimize the predicted induced damage during a low velocity drop weight impact event on a dispersed panel. The orientation angle for each layer can be selected as a discrete variable in the domain of -85 degrees to 90 degrees, at 5 degrees intervals. Two case studies are analyzed. In the first one the predicted damage area is minimized whereas, in the second one, the absorbed elastic strain energy is maximized. The results show that this problem is a multi-optimum problem. By using this methodology on dispersed laminates, the predicted impact damage area can be reduced by more than 20% while the objective function of the second case can be improved by 8% compared to the traditionally designed configurations. These results evidence the possibility to improve the damage tolerance using dispersed laminates. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.