Damage Strength Optimization of Laminates by a Reliability-based Method

This paper presents damage strength optimization of laminates using a reliabilitybased method. Two complementary analyses are developed: The first is a mechanical analysis of damage behavior using a thermodynamics framework which determines the failure criterion; the second is a reliability method which takes not only randomness, but also subjective uncertainties into account for failure probability calculation. This method, based on the First Order Reliability Method, requires the resolution of a constrained problem of optimization. To solve this problem, a hybrid algorithm, combining evolutionary computation techniques with deterministic procedure is presented. Filament-wound pipe optimization under pressure is discussed as a working example.