Walker, Mark2011-08-012011-08-012000http://hdl.handle.net/10321/657Originally published in: Composite Structures, Vol. 48, No. 1-3, 2000.A procedure to optimally design laminated plates for a specific cyclic life using a cumulative damage constraint is described. The objective is minimum weight, and the design variables are the fiber orientation, and the plate thickness. The plates are subjected to cyclic bending loads, and the finite element method, in conjunction with the Golden Section method, is used to determine the design variables optimally. The FE formulation is based on Mindlin theory for moderately thick laminated plates and shells, and the formulation includes bending–twisting coupling. In order to demonstrate the procedure, several plates with differing events, load magnitudes and type, aspect ratios, boundary conditions and cyclic lives are optimised, and compared.pp. 213-218 (6 p.)enThe electronic version of the article published in Composite Structures 2000, 48(1-3): 213-218 © 2000 copyright Elsevier. Composite Structures available online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822399000975Optimal designComposite structuresCyclic loadsArticlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0263-8223(99)00097-5