• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.5 s.176
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• pp.1193-1202
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• 2000

The paper describes the use of genetic algorithms (GA's) to the minimum weight design of stiffened composite panels for buckling constraints. The proposed design problem is characterized by mixture of continuous and discrete design variables corresponding to panel elements and stacking sequence of laminates, respectively. Design space is multimodal and non-convex, thereby introducing the need for global search strategies. Advanced strategies in GA's such as directed crossover, multistage search and separated crossover are adopted to improve search ability and to save computational resource requirements. The paper explores the effectiveness of genetic algorithms and their advanced strategies in designing stiffened composite panels under various uniaxial compressive load conditions and the linrlit on stacking sequence of laminates.