Abstract
Pressure hulls are one of the keys in the design of submarines. In order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of pressure hull structure, methods of optimizing it were studied. In the present study, an overview of the multi-objective optimization of intersecting cross elliptical pressure hulls (ICEPH) with and without the core layer under hydrostatic pressure was investigated in order to maximize buckling load capacity (lambda) and minimize the buoyancy factor (B.F) of the ICEPH according to the design requirements. Five models were built, four composite models constructed from boron/epoxy (B(4)/5505) and carbon/epoxy composite (USN-150) with and without core layer. The fifth is a reference metallic model constructed from HY100. Criteria regarding failure for both composite and metal shells are considered as indications of optimization. Both Tsai-Wu and maximum stress failure criteria were employed to check the composite failure. The modeling and the multi-objective optimization were performed using ANSYS parametric design language (APDL) in order to determine mass, critical buckling load, and failure criteria. The results illustrated that carbon fiber-epoxy composite (USN-150) with a core layer is preferred for obtaining minimum weight, with an improvement ratio (I-R) 64.314% superior to that of a metallic pressure hull. By contrast, (boron/epoxy B(4)/5505) without a core layer is preferred to obtain a maximum buckling load.