Application of particle swarm optimisation to sandwich material design

Sandwich materials, consisting of two thin, stiff facings separated by a low density core, can be used to produce structures that are both light and flexurally rigid. However, the optimisation of sandwich materials is not straightforward. This is because there are typically multiple design variables and multiple design objectives. Particle swarm optimisation is a heuristic method that is capable of finding optimal solutions within complex design spaces. The application of particle swarm optimisation to multi-objective sandwich beam problems is described here. The free variables investigated include the facing thickness, and the facing and core materials. Furthermore, for the facings, multiply, oriented laminate constructions are considered. Based on these inputs, sandwich beams are optimised for stiffness, mass and cost. The results show that the particle swarm optimisation algorithm is effective at finding a range of optimal solutions for the given objectives.