Buckling and strength analysis of panels with discrete stiffness tailoring

Continuous variation of stiffness across flat plates has been shown, theoretically, to improve buckling performance by up to 60%. However, steered fibre manufacturing methods cannot achieve the minimum radius of curvature required for improvement whilst maintaining a high deposition rate. An alternative concept, Discrete Stiffness Tailoring (DST), which varies stiffness within a ply through discrete changes of angle, is compatible with high rate...