Fundamental frequency maximization of composite rectangular plates by sequential permutation search algorithm

Due to the classical thin plate theory based governing equations of composite rectangular plates for dynamic problems are linear homogeneous equations on bending stiffness coefficients, a general sequential permutation search (SPS) algorithm is presented to optimize stacking sequences of composite laminates by exploiting convexity of lamination parameters, sensitivity of bending stiffness, and bending-twisting coupling stiffness feature. Numerical examples are conducted for 8-layer composite rectangular plates with different boundaries to maximize the fundamental frequency evaluated by the Rayleigh–Ritz method, and the results are compared with those of layerwise optimization approach and genetic algorithm, demonstrating robustness and efficiency of SPS.