An Affordable Approach for Robust Design of Thick Laminated Composite Structure

A systematic and affordable approach is proposed for the robust design of thick laminated composite structures. Our approach integrates the principles of the Robust Concept Exploration Method (RCEM) for designing complex engineering systems and the hierarchical multi-level optimization procedure for managing the complexity of composite structure optimization. Foundational to the proposed approach is the use of Design of Experiments (DOE) techniques and the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for improving computational efficiency in using high fidelity design simulations; and the use of the robust design method for improving the quality of a product that is insensitive to potential variations of design parameters. Our approach is illustrated through the design of a laminated composite femoral component for hip joint arthroplasty. The solution yields the robust design of a composite hip implant, which is applicable for a range of bone stiffness, thereby eliminating the need to design specifically for an individual.