Author(s)

S.N. Gulrajani & S. Mukherjee

Abstract

Optimal design of hexagonal array fiber composites with respect to interphase properties S.N. Gulrajani, S. Mukherjee Theoretical & Applied Mechanics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY - 14850, USA ABSTRACT The focus of this paper is the calculation of sensitivities of stresses at an interphase between a fiber and matrix, in a hexagonal cell of a fiber rein- forced composite, with respect to interphase stiffnesses, and the use of these sensitivities to carry out optimal design of the interphase. The interphase is modeled as a spring layer. The sensitivity calculations are carried out by using the direct differentiation approach (DBA) of the corresponding boundary element method (BEM) formulation. Optimization calculations are carried out by coupling the standard and sensitivity analyses to an optimizer. Numerical results for sensitivities and optimization, for some illustrative examples, are presented. INTRODUCTION An interphase in a composite material can be a by-pr

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