LP2SST: Efficient Guide-Based Blending of Stacking Sequences

Kurzfassung

Elastically tailored composite structures maximise the potential of anisotropic materials. Lamination parameters (LPs) provide effective means to optimise stiffness distribution, which are then realised as fibre stacking sequences (SS). However, the efficient and deterministic design of guideline-compliant composite structures from LPs remains a longstanding challenge. The author’s previous work (LP2SS) established a rapid Fourier-transform method for translating LPs into SS at the single-panel level. This work extends that capability to multi-panel structures through LP2SST. Here, guide based blending is used to construct stacking sequence tables (SSTs), containing laminates of varying thickness and stiffness. LP2SS is first used to design the guide (thickest) laminate, and thinner laminates are derived via ply-drop optimisation using a branch-and-bound algorithm. Multiple unique SSTs are deterministically designed within seconds while enforcing laminate-level and ply-drop guidelines, with either [∆45◦] or [∆15◦] angles. Demonstrated on the 18-panel horseshoe benchmark, LP2SST achieves excellent performance with feasible reserve factors and guideline compliance. It requires <1% of the computational time of existing methods, delivering comparable results within seconds (and ∼2 minutes including stiffness optimisation). This brings LP-based blended composite design closer to practical viability, and enable stiffness-driven, production-aware design for next-generation aircraft.