Stability, Dynamic and Aeroelastic Optimization of Functionally Graded Composite Structures

Numerous applications of numerical optimization to various structural design problems have been addressed in the literature. A comprehensive survey on this issue was given in [1], presenting a historical review and demonstrating the future needs to assimilate this technology into the practicing design environment. Different approaches were applied successfully by several investigators for treating stress, displacement, buckling and frequency optimization problems. In general, design optimization seeks the best values of a set of n design variables represented by the vector, Xnx1, to achieve, within certain m constraints, Gmx1(X), its goal of optimality defined by a set of k objective functions, Fkx1(X), for specified environmental conditions (see Figure 1). Mathematically, design optimization may be cast in the following standard form: Find the design variables Xnx1 that minimize