![Sample our Engineering & Technology journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5933/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Engineering-Tech.jpg"})
Abstract
Composite laminates are in widespread use in the aerospace industry. As well as satisfying strength and stiffness criteria, the final laminate design has to be manufacturable in terms of compatibility between adjacent panels, thus introducing conflicting constraints on the allowed laminate stacking sequences. An attempt to automate the laminate design process is described in this paper. The method uses a mixture of a genetic algorithm and heuristics to satisfy the various design and manufacturing constraints. Multiple zones are allowed, where each zone defines a panel together with a set of applied loads. Guide laminates and a blending methodology allow each zone to share common plies. This creates ply continuity across the structure, and avoids the scenario seen in other laminate optimisation tools where each optimised zone contains unrelated laminates that are not practical from a manufacturing perspective.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
T Coates
Dr Tim Coates is a technical specialist in structural analysis, in particular finite element analysis. He has been involved in a wide range of aerospace projects, including military aircraft (such as Tornado, Eurofighter, Hercules C130J, A400M and the F35 Lighting II), space qualified hardware for a NASA shuttle mission, and commercial aircraft (such as A380, 787 and A350). In the past 25 years, Tim has completed successful design and development projects for customers such as Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed Martin. Tim has a BSc and a PhD from the University of London.
Tim also has a special interest in the use of computers in engineering, especially with reference to engineering automation. He was responsible for the installation of the first Australian industrial computing cluster for parallel execution of structural analysis. He has also developed numerous structural analysis and other applications, enhancing the efficiency of the engineering process. Tim was recognised by Boeing as an Associate Technical Fellow and is currently a Technical Fellow at GKN Aerospace Engineering Services.
A Smith
Dr Adrian Smith is a software engineering and technology manager with a history of successful project delivery in highly technical and challenging environments. His experience spans the entire development life-cycle, with an emphasis on agile-methods including Scrum, XP and Test Driven Development. Adrian holds a BE and PhD from the University of Queensland.
In the past 10 years, Adrian has completed major projects for domestic and international customers including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, GKN Aerospace, DSTO, Airbus UK, CSIRO, Newcrest Mining, Department of Main Roads, Food Connect and BBC Worldwide. Additionally, he has proposed and led research projects with RMIT, UNSW and CRC-ACS, resulting in numerous publications and two PhD graduates.
Adrian is passionate about software development, technology and agile methods. This passion, combined with a highly pragmatic and hands-on approach, helps him deliver practical, cost-effective, robust and scalable solutions that result in real business value.
M Emanuel
Michael Emanuel is an aerospace engineer with a BE from UNSW. He has been involved in the design and analysis of composite and metallic structures, as well as the design and development of engineering software. His experience comprises both commercial and military aerospace projects for a broad range of customers, including Airbus, British Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, GKN Aerospace and Northrop Grumman.
Michael believes in the practical incorporation of technology with traditional engineering processes. This combination has lead to the successful completion of a range of engineering solutions that have a real return on investment over both the short and long term.
B Peterson
Brett Peterson is an aerospace structural analyst currently employed by GKN Aerospace Engineering Services. He has been involved in the design and analysis of new aircraft programs for both civilian and military customers, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, AAI, Gulfstream, Spirit Aerosystems and Airbus.
Brett has experience with metallic and composite analysis using both classical techniques and FE-based approaches. He has participated in the successful capture of tacit knowledge from engineering processes and the development of this into automated software tools. Brett has also been involved in 3D CFD research in the hypersonic flow regime with the Centre for Hypersonics at the University of Queensland. He holds a BE and BSc from the University of Queensland.