Optimization Design and Nonlinear Bending of Bio-Inspired Helicoidal Composite Laminated Plates

Inspired by the bionic Bouligand structure, helicoidal carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite (CFRPC) laminates have been proven to own outstanding out-of-plane mechanical properties. This work aims to further explore the excellent bending characteristics of helicoidal CFRPC laminated plates and find out the optimal helicoidal layup patterns. The optimization design of laminated plates stacked with single-form and combination-form helicoidal layup sequences are carried out by using the finite element method (FEM) and adaptive simulated annealing (ASA) optimization algorithm on the Isight platform. Then, the nonlinear bending responses of optimal helicoidal CFRPC laminated plates are investigated via the FEM for the first time. The helicoidal CFRPC laminated plates under three different types of boundary conditions subjected to transverse uniformly distributed load are considered. The numerical results reveal that the combination-form helicoidal layup sequences can decrease the dimensionless bending deflection of laminated plates by more than 5% compared with the quasi-isotropic plate and enhance the out-of-plane bending characteristics of CFRPC laminated plates effectively. The boundary conditions can significantly influence the nonlinear bending responses of helicoidal CFRPC laminated plates.

Automated summary

Inspired by the bionic Bouligand structure, this study aims to explore the excellent bending characteristics of helicoidal carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite (CFRPC) laminated plates and find the optimal helicoidal layup patterns. Through the finite element method and adaptive simulated annealing optimization algorithm, the laminated plates with single-form and combination-form helicoidal layup sequences are optimized. The nonlinear bending responses of the optimal helicoidal CFRPC laminated plates are then investigated using the finite element method for the first time. The results show that the combination-form helicoidal layup sequences can significantly reduce the bending deflection of laminated plates and enhance their out-of-plane bending characteristics effectively. The boundary conditions have a significant influence on the nonlinear bending responses of helicoidal CFRPC laminated plates.