Cost optimum design of structural fibre composite sandwich panel for flooring applications

Abstract

A new type of FRP composite panel suitable for civil engineering constructions has been invented by the Australian manufacturers. This new type of FRP structural sandwich Panel is made of fibre glass skins and modified phenolic core material with a density relatively higher than the normal sandwich panel. This panel is used for civil engineering applications of flooring system and glue laminate FRP beams. The extensive experimental work has been carried out by the Centre of Excellence in Engineered Fibre Composites (CEEFC) at the University of Southern Queensland to find the strength parameters of this new sandwich panel. This research aims to develop an optimum design of the new FRP sandwich floor panel by using Finite Element (FE) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) method. The numerical FE shows a relatively accurate simulation for the behaviour of the FRP panel. The materials cost was regarded as an objective function with the EUROCOMP design constraints. The optimization shows that the skins orientations 0/90o would produce the best design for one-way spaning floor panel. © Tsinghua University Press, Beijing and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.