Optimization of elastic properties in the design of textile composites

Abstract The elastic behavior of textile composites depends on a number of factors, including fiber and matrix properties, fabric architecture, and relative and total fiber volume fractions. The optimum design of a textile composite is, therefore, a highly combinatorial problem. In this work, the problem of predicting the optimum fabric architecture and fiber volume fractions to achieve a set of target elastic properties is formulated as a constrained nonlinear optimization problem. The design procedure uses the Stiffness Averaging Technique for the prediction of composite elastic properties. Two standard routines for solving optimization problems are employed to identify optimum design parameters. Several case studies are presented to illustrate the applicability of this novel design procedure.