Design, modeling, optimization, manufacturing and testing of variable-angle filament-wound cylinders

This work demonstrates the potential of manufacturing variable-angle composite cylinders via filament winding (FW), called VAFW. The proposed design strategy allows different filament angles along the axial direction by dividing the cylinder into regions of constant angle called frames. Designs using two, four, or eight frames are herein...

Overlap-stiffened panels for optimized buckling performance under minimum steering radius constraints

Recent research on variable stiffness laminates have shown both numerically and experimentally that further improvement on the buckling performance is possible by incorporating overlaps that result in variable thickness profiles. We present the concept of overlap-stiffened designs that take advantage of the non-linear coupling between the tow...

Optimal Design of Variable Stiffness Composite Structures using Lamination Parameters

Fiber reinforced composite materials have gained widespread acceptance for a multitude of applications in the aerospace, automotive, maritime and wind-energy industries. Automated fiber placement technologies have developed rapidly over the past two decades, driven primarily by a need to reduce manufacturing costs and improve product consistency...