Objective
While dealing with design of composite structures, the
number of design variables is so high that the feeling of
engineers is rarely sufficient to optimise the design. In
this project, sizing, shape and topological optimisation
techniques are applied to several types of composites in
order to reach a highly efficient use of materials in
structures.
Starting from present design methodologies and dealing
with technological constraints coming from manufacturing
processes, the aim is to develop new design methodologies
allowing to enhance the quality of products and decrease
the time to market new products. In order to achieve the
goals, customised design systems will be build and tested
in the context of SME's and big companies. New parametric
modellers will be build and integrated within the
customised environment. A very important feature is that
the whole problem here will be treated at the geometrical
level (not at the finite element one). That must
guarantee, user friendliness of the proposed software
tools. New design and optimisation algorithms will also
be integrated. The general architecture will be the BOSS
QUATTRO system, developed thanks to an other B/E
project (OPTIM).
The result will then be a toolbox available for further
customisation in other applications.
Metallic composite panels are considered here as well as
classical multi layered composites. Different ways to
formulate the design problem are studied and compared:
sizing of plies, shape optimisation of laminates on the
shell, topology of laminates etc. The problems of
uncertainty and sensitivity to manufacturing defects will
also be studied using rigorous methods.
As part of the customisation task, the best formulations
will be selected with respect to targeted design
problems. Experimental testing will allow to check the
accuracy of the obtained solutions.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
90 Galway
Ireland