Fatigue-resistant design of carbon/epoxy composites based on a failure tensor polynomial model by particle swarm optimization-sequential quadratic programming algorithm

This article introduces a design procedure to find the optimum fiber orientations of carbon/epoxy composite laminates for fatigue life advancement. The approach incorporates a fatigue failure tensor polynomial model and employs a hybrid algorithm, combining particle swarm optimization and sequential quadratic programming. Firstly, material properties of quasi-static and fatigue of the carbon/epoxy composites, fabricated by the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding method, were determined to be used in the model. Various design problems involving two optimization scenarios were then solved using the hybrid algorithm. The algorithm’s performance was also evaluated by specific test problems, confirming its speed and robustness. The optimally fiber-oriented carbon/epoxy composite laminates having maximum fatigue lives were obtained for many critical in-plane cyclic loading cases. To validate the proposed design procedure, two optimum designs were experimentally verified under uniaxial loading conditions. The results indicated a good correlation between the estimated fatigue life of the optimally designed laminates and experimental data. This methodology offers a promising approach for the design of carbon/epoxy composite laminates with superior fatigue strength, particularly significant in specific industrial applications. © The Author(s) 2024