Patent ID: 8731870

Claim:
A method of designing a composite panel, the panel comprising a plurality of zones, each zone comprising a plurality of plies of composite material arranged in a stacking sequence, each ply in each stacking sequence having a respective orientation angle, the method comprising: a. for each orientation angle creating N layout matrices, where N≧1 and N is the highest number of plies with that orientation angle in any one zone of the panel, and the layout matrices are consecutively numbered 1, . . . n, . . . N, wherein i. the first layout matrix identifies zones in the panel which contain at least one ply with that orientation angle; ii. the nth layout matrix identifies zones in the panel which contain at least n plies with that orientation angle; iii. and the Nth layout matrix identifies zones in the panel which contain N plies with that orientation angle; b. arranging the layout matrices in a plurality of candidate sequences; c. using selection criteria to choose one or more of the candidate sequences; and d. assigning stacking sequences to the zones in accordance with the chosen candidate sequences, the above method steps are implemented on a computer.