Minimum-Weight Designs for Hat-Stiffened Composite Panels Under Uniaxial Compression

Optimum hat-stiffened compression panel designs are determined using a structural synthesis technique. Effects of simplifying assumptions made in the buckling analysis for the optimization program are investigated using a more accurate analysis which is a linked plate element program. Optimization results for an aluminum panel are compared with available results. Optimization results for hat-stiffened graphite-epoxy panels show a 50-percent weight savings over optimized aluminum panels. Using the structural synthesis technique, composite panels are shown to possess a variety of proportions at nearly constant weight.