Optimisation of laminated cylindrical pressure vessels under strength criterion

An approach for the optimisation of symmetrically laminated cylindrical pressure vessels is presented. The analysis is based on the membrane theory of shells and the optimisation is carried out with respect to the fibre orientations and thickness distributions subject to the Tsai-Wu failure criterion. The approach is equally applicable to balanced and unbalanced symmetrically laminated shells. Two examples are considered which involve the design of cylindrical shells for maximum burst pressure and minimum weight. Numerical results are given for pressure vessels subject to internal pressure only and to a combination of internal pressure and liquid pressure. The effect of axial loading and torque on the designs is discussed.