Design and optimization of symmetric laminated composites using a variable neighbourhood search-based model

The development of society is still marked by the need for lighter and stronger structures. The materials that respond best to these needs are composite materials. Designing composite materials is difficult as it involves designing the geometry and their composition. Traditionally, the design tasks have been based on approximate methods; the possibility for creating composite materials is almost unlimited, characterization by testing is very expensive and it is difficult to apply the results to other contexts. This article proposes a variable neighbourhood search-based model for the design of symmetric laminated composites, a general encoding for the design of composites, an evaluation function that has taken into consideration cost and safety criteria in design, the neighbourhood structures and a set of local search operators. The proposed model has been applied to different real-world problems and the results have been compared with other well-known design methods.