Patent ID: 8756037

Claim:
A method for designing a composite laminate containing steered-fiber plies defined by stream functions, comprising the following steps: (a) choosing values of parameters of a stream function for a first ply as design variable values that define the stream function of the first ply; (b) computing a stream function for a second ply that structurally balances the first ply, the stream function for the second ply being computed as a function of the design variable values chosen in step (a); (c) computing a respective fiber angle distribution of each of the first and second plies based on the respective stream functions for the first and second plies; (d) computing a thickness buildup of each of said first and second plies based on the stream functions for said respective first and second plies; (e) analyzing a simulated structure of said laminate comprising at least the first and second plies simulated by results of steps (b) through (d); (f) computing one or more measures of merit for the simulated structure; and (g) iterating steps (a) through (f) until an optimum value of one or more of the measures of merit is obtained, wherein steps (b) through (g) are performed by processors.