A constraint satisfaction problem algorithm for large-scale multi-panel composite structures

This paper proposes a constraint satisfaction problem algorithm based on implicit decision trees and dynamic programming for the design of multiple composite panels subjected to a set of blending rules and external forces. This decision tree is built incrementally on the ‘fly’, adding plies from a particular set, and does not require any guiding laminate or stacking sequence table for blending purposes. The upper bound algorithm complexity is provided in this work. The technique is applied to the design of a well-known composite multi-panel problem addressed in previous studies; the novel procedure exhibits high-quality solutions (in terms of structure weight) and low computational cost (in terms of laminate evaluations). The novel algorithm scalability is also checked showing that the node tree expansion is independent of the number of panels to be designed. This algorithm could therefore be a suitable choice for large-scale multi-panel design problems.