Multi-objective analysis for optimal and robust design of unidirectional glass/carbon fibre reinforced hybrid epoxy composites under flexural loading

A multi-objective analysis for unidirectional S-2 glass and T700S carbon fibre reinforced epoxy hybrid composites under flexural loading has been presented in this paper. A classical lamination theory (CLT) based model was developed to predict the flexural properties of composite laminates under three-point bending. Four objective functions, namely, maximizing the flexural strength and robustness and minimizing the weight and cost were chosen. The weighted sum method (WSM) was applied to find the optimal solution with the weighting factors being calculated from the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). As an illustration of the method, five different scenarios for the relative objective preferences were examined with the corresponding optimal solutions being determined. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.