Applied Composite Materials

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-024-10201-8

RESEARCH

An Efficient Optimization Method for Stacking Sequence

of Composite Pressure Vessels Based on Artificial Neural
Network and Genetic Algorithm

Jianguo Liang1 · Zemin Ning1 · Yinhui Li2 · Haifeng Gao1 · Jianglin Liu1 · Wang Tian1 ·
Xiaodong Zhao1 · Zhaotun Jia1 · Yuqin Xue1 · Chunxiang Miao1

Received: 15 November 2023 / Accepted: 15 January 2024

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024

Abstract
This paper proposes an efficient optimization method for the stacking sequence of com-
posite pressure vessels based on the joint application of finite element analysis (FEA), arti-
ficial neural network (ANN), and genetic algorithm (GA). The composite pressure vessel
has many winding layers and varied angles, and the stacking sequence of the composite
pressure vessel affects its performance. It is essential to carry out the optimal design of the
stacking sequence. The experimental cost for optimal design of composite pressure ves-
sels is high, and numerical simulation is time-consuming. ANN is used to predict the fiber
direction stress of composite pressure vessels, which replaces FEA in the optimization pro-
cess of GA effectively. In addition, the optimization efficiency of the optimization method
proposed in this paper can be improved significantly when the neural network model is
employed. The optimization results show that the peak stress in the fiber direction can be
reduced by 37.3% with the design burst pressure. The burst pressure of the composite pres-
sure vessel can be increased by 13.4% by optimizing the stacking sequence of compos-
ite pressure vessels while keeping the number of plies and the winding angle unchanged.
The results imply that the work undertaken in this paper is of great significance for the
improvement of the safety performance of composite pressure vessels.

Keywords Composite pressure vessel · Stacking sequence optimization · Artificial Neural

Network · Genetic algorithm · Finite element analysis

1 Introduction

Currently, cost-effective pressure vessels are significant for using in various fields, such as
gas, power, chemical, and high-pressure gas storage, especially for hydrogen fuel storage
in the automotive industry. Carbon fiber/epoxy composites are widely used in developing
composite high-pressure hydrogen storage vessels for fuel cell vehicles due to their high
specific strength, specific modulus, etc. [1]. However, due to the low density of hydrogen
and vehicle space constraints, hydrogen fuel cell systems require composite pressure ves-
sels that are small in size, light in weight, low in cost, and high in reliability [2–4]. In

Extended author information available on the last page of the article

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 Applied Composite Materials

addition, composite pressure vessels are generally subject to complex environments such as
increased pressure and high temperature, which poses a significant challenge to the struc-
tural and material mechanical properties and the reliable and economical design under spe-
cific design conditions [5]. Therefore, an optimized design of composite pressure vessels is
required to realize the optimal combination of high safety performance and low cost.
Many researchers have carried out the optimized design of composite pressure vessels.
For example, Xu et al. [6] propose an adaptive GA to optimize the design of composite
pressure vessels by taking the winding angle and winding thickness as the design vari-
ables. Mian et al. [7] use FEA to optimize the winding angle and winding thickness of the
composite pressure vessel to achieve weight reduction of the vessel. Vafaeesefat et al. [8]
optimize the winding angle and head shape of composite pressure vessels to improve ves-
sel performance. Alcantar et al. [9, 10] optimize the composite thickness of the Type III
and Type IV compressed hydrogen storage vessel, which can reduce the mass of the ves-
sel. Sabour et al. [11] propose an optimal design method for composite pressure vessels
based on fuzzy decision-making and FEA to optimize the thickness of the composite layer
and liner. Lin et al. [12] adopt FEA in combination with the simplified conjugate gradi-
ent method and GA to optimize the winding angle and winding thickness of the compos-
ite pressure vessel, and the stress concentration value of the optimized composite pressure
vessel is reduced. Liu et al. [13] propose an artificial immune system algorithm to optimize
the winding thickness design to achieve weight reduction while meeting the burst pressure
condition. Kim et al. [14] optimize the design of the type III composite pressure vessel
using GA based on the non-geodesic path algorithm and FEA to reduce the weight of the
vessel. Jiao et al. [15] propose an optimal design method for composite pressure vessels,
which include a non-geometric path algorithm, a variable stiffness analysis algorithm, and
an artificial immunity algorithm, and the optimized pressure vessel achieves weight reduc-
tion. Park et al. [16] use response surface methodology to optimize the geometry and wind-
ing angle of the composite pressure vessel. Paknahad et al. [17] use FEA combined with an
inertia-weighted particle swarm algorithm to optimize the dome profile of the composite
pressure vessel. Vafaeesefat et al. [18] propose an optimization algorithm for determining
the optimal head shape for composite pressure vessels. Zhao et al. [19, 20] propose a novel
multi-filament winding technique. The composite pressure vessel molded by this technique
has improved the pressure bearing capacity and impact resistance properties of composite
layers. The optimal designs of composite pressure vessels mainly focus on the winding
angle, winding thickness, winding path, dome geometry, winding technique, etc. There are
fewer studies on optimizing the stacking sequence for composite pressure vessels.
Many researchers from different industries have studied the stacking sequence of com-
posite structures. Nicholas et al. [21] optimize the design of a horizontal-axis wind turbine
blade to improve the flexural strength of the wind turbine structure by optimally varying
the stacking direction and stacking sequence in each section of the blade. Bach et al. [22]
investigate the optimization of the stacking sequence of aeroelastic tailored forward-swept
wing composites, which reduce the structural mass. Nagendra et al. [23], Kogiso et al. [24],
Khedmati et al. [25], Ghiasi et al. [26] and Lee et al. [27] optimize the stacking sequence
of the composite laminates to maximize the flexural strength. Hong et al. [28] optimize the
stacking sequence of the composite bicycle wheel to reduce mass. Bohrer et al. [29] opti-
mize the multi-material topology and stacking sequence of composite laminates to achieve
high performance with minimum weight. An et al. [30] optimize the stacking sequence
and stiffened panel arrangement of a composite stiffened panel to minimize its structural
mass. Kanak et al. [31] optimize the stacking sequence of laminated cylindrical shell pan-
els to maximize the frequency separation based on first-order shear deformation theory

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Applied Composite Materials

and genetic algorithm. Subham et al. [32, 33] optimize the stacking sequence of laminated
cylindrical shell panels to maximize the frequency separation. The above studies show
that the design of stacking sequence optimization for composite structures is widely used.
The composite pressure vessel has many winding layers and varied angles. The stacking
sequence have a considerable influence on the laminate quality, the structural deformation
and the burst pressure of composite pressure vessels [34]. It is essential to carry out the
optimal design of the stacking sequence.
GA is extensively adopted in the optimal design of composite structures. Riche et al.
[35], Park et al. [36], Gurdal et al. [37], Soremekun et al. [38] and Lee et al. [39] apply
GA to optimize the strength of composite laminates with discontinuous design variables.
Vincenti et al. [40], Iyengar et al. [41], Todoroki et al. [42], Nagendra et al. [43] and Mes-
sager et al. [44] use GA to maximize the flexural strength of composite laminates. Almeida
et al. [45], Rajendran et al. [46], and Gantovnik et al. [47] use GA to reduce the weight
of composite laminates. Kanak et al. [48] use multi-objective genetic algorithm and parti-
cle swarm optimization coupled with a machine learning algorithm to effectively solve the
multi-scale optimization of composites. Due to its simple coding, escaping of gradient cal-
culations, suitability for large variety of problems and capable of more likely to find global
optima, GA becomes the most popular heuristic method for stacking sequence optimization
of composite laminates [49, 50]. The stacking sequence optimization of composite pressure
vessels belongs to discrete optimization, GA is one of the most successful optimization
algorithms among the discrete optimization algorithms. Therefore, GA is used for optimal
design in this paper.
In GA, the fitness value determines the optimization result. The selection of the fitness
function is critical. Composite pressure vessels have complex structures and boundary condi-
tions, and the fitness value can not be obtained from analytical solutions. FEA, as a powerful
numerical approach, can provide accurate calculation results under a wide range of geomet-
rical, boundary, and loading conditions. Therefore, FEA is employed as an effective tool to
acquire the fitness values. Furthermore, the iterative computation of the optimization process
with GA leads to a high computation cost [51]. Artificial neural network is the most repre-
sentative and common intelligent method for predicting mechanical properties of fiber-rein-
forced composites. A well-trained ANN model can realize the non-linear mapping between
the design parameters and mechanical properties of composites, and shows good accuracy
and efficiency in the prediction of composite properties [52]. Numerous researchers have used
ANN to predict the performance of composite laminates in place of time-consuming FEA
for optimizing composite laminates. For example, Bisagni et al. [53] apply ANN to the post-
buckling optimization of composite reinforced laminates and show that the efficiency of the
optimization process is significantly improved using ANN. Abouhamze et al. [54] optimize
the stacking sequence of the laminated cylinder using ANN and GA. Marin et al. [55] perform
geometric optimization of reinforced composite laminates subjected to mechanical and hygro-
thermal loads, using ANN in GA to improve computational efficiency. In the work of Pitton
et al. [56] ANN is combined with the particle swarm algorithm to achieve the variable stiff-
ness cylindrical shell maximization buckling load. Singh et al. [57] investigate the application
of ANN in the buckling optimization of curved reinforced plates. Peng et al. [58] use ANN
and GA to optimize hybrid composite laminates with multi-scale uncertainty to maximize
their intrinsic frequency. Bessa et al. [59] combine ANN with GA, which optimizes the design
of a composite deployable shell. Ehsani et al. [60] optimize the design of composite angle grid
plates using ANN combined with GA to shorten the optimization time. In summary, a high-
performance ANN model is an essential tool for the optimal design of composite laminated
structures, especially for the optimal design of large and complex laminated structures (e.g.

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 Applied Composite Materials

complex structural types, many layers, etc.). Composite pressure vessels have complex geom-
etry and many layers, and it takes a long time to carry out a FEA, and thus there is an urgent
need to develop an ANN model to predict the fitness value of GA during optimization.
This paper proposes an efficient optimization method for the stacking sequence of com-
posite pressure vessels based on the joint application of FEA, ANN, and GA. FEA is adopted
to establish the database required by neural network training. The neural network model is
trained to predict the peak stress in the fiber direction with the design burst pressure corre-
sponding to different stacking sequences of the composite pressure vessel. The trained ANN
model is applied to GA to optimize the stacking sequence of composite pressure vessels. The
paper is organized as follows: Section II describes the determination of the layer angle of the
composite pressure vessel. Section III describes the proposed FEA-ANN-GA optimization
methodology. ANN development process and GA optimization results are given in Section IV.
Conclusions are provided in Section V.

2 Problem Definition

This section describes how to determine the winding angle and number of layers for compos-
ite pressure vessels.
The ultimate tensile strength of the fibers significantly surpasses that of the resin matrix.
When a composite pressure vessel is subjected to uniform internal pressure loading, the fibers
bear significant radial and axial stresses. The resin matrix fails almost wholly during the burst-
ing phase of the pressure vessel, and the composite shell can be considered as a lattice struc-
ture made up of fibers. This design approach, which disregards the role of the resin matrix
and treats the load on the composite material pressure vessel as entirely borne by the fibers, is
referred to as the netting theory [61].
In this paper, the geodesic winding is adopted. According to the netting theory, the helical
winding angle of the cylinder section (α) and the helical winding angle of the dome section
(α(r)) are respectively
{ r
𝛼 = arcsin R0
r
𝛼(r) = arcsin R0 (1)

where R and r0 are the radius of the cylinder section and the pole hole, respectively. r rep-
resents the radius of the parallel circle of the dome section.
The structure of a composite pressure vessel includes a cylinder section and a dome sec-
tion. The composite layers of the cylinder section include helical winding layers and hoop
winding layers. The composite layers of the dome section have only helical winding layers.
The number of helical winding layers of the cylinder section is the number of helical winding
layers of the dome section. Assuming that the helical and hoop winding layers of the compos-
ite pressure vessel are damaged at the same time, the thickness of the helical winding layer
(tfα) and the thickness of the hoop winding layer (tfθ) of the cylinder section can be obtained
according to the netting theory, respectively:

⎧t = RPb
⎪ f𝛼 2K𝜎fb cos2 𝛼
⎨ RPb � � (2)
⎪ tf 𝜃 = 2 − tan2 𝛼
⎩ 2K𝜎fb

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Applied Composite Materials

where α is the cylinder section helical winding angle, Pb is the design burst pressure, σfb
represents the fiber play strength. Due to the high fiber overhead in the dome section of
the pressure vessel, the thickness of the winding layer in the dome section is calculated by
dividing by the stress balance factor K, which is generally taken to be 0.65 ~ 0.75.
Predicting the dome section fiber thickness constitutes a pivotal aspect of the design
process of composite pressure vessels. The total amount of the fiber through any parallel
circle on the dome section is equal to the total amount of the fiber through the equato-
rial circle. Thus, the fiber thickness on the dome section enlarges as the parallel circu-
lar radius diminishes. Fiber accumulation occurs in the area around the pole hole. The
prognostic outcomes of fiber thickness wield influence over the precision of compos-
ite material layer modeling. To precisely predict dome section fiber thickness, scholars
domestically and abroad have undertaken extensive inquiry. Successively, methods such
as the single-formula [62], dual-formula, and Knoell equation method [63] have been
proposed. These methodologies demonstrate relative accuracy in forecasting fiber thick-
ness far from the pole hole yet exhibit inaccuracy in thickness prediction near the pole
hole, thereby warranting further investigation.
In this paper, the cubic spline method is used to predict the fiber thickness within two
bandwidths near the pole aperture, and the third hypothesis of fiber distribution charac-
teristics is used to indicate the fiber thickness outside the two bandwidths. The spline
function is established within the two bandwidths near the pole hole:

t(r) = m1 × r0 + m2 × r1 + m3 × r2 + m4 × r3 (3)

where, t(r) is fiber thickness of dome section. m1, m2, m3 and m4 are the coefficients to be
determined respectively, which determined by the following formula:

⎡ m1 ⎤ ⎡ 1 r0 r02 r03 ⎤
⎢ m2 ⎥ ⎢ 1 r2b 2
r2b 3
r2b ⎥
⎢ m ⎥ =⎢ 0 1 2r 3r 2 ⎥
⎢ 3⎥ ⎢ � 2 � 2𝜋 � 3 � 𝜋� 4 2b � 2𝜋 � 5 2b 5 � ⎥
⎣ m4 ⎦ ⎣ 𝜋 r2b − r0 2
r2b − r0 2 r2b − r0 5 r2b − r0 ⎦
3 4
� 3
� � � �� (4)
⎡ mR ⋅nR ⋅ arccos r0 − arccos r0 +b ⋅ tp ⎤
⎢ 𝜋 � r2b r2b �
⎥
×⎢ m ⋅n r0 rb ⎥
⎢
R R
⋅ √ − √ ⋅ tp ⎥
⎣ 𝜋 2
r2b × r2b −r02 2
r2b × r2b −rb 2
⎦

rb
mR ⋅ nR (r )
∫r0
Vconst = 2𝜋r ⋅ ⋅ arccos 0 ⋅ tp dr
𝜋 r
rb [ ( ) ( )] (5)
mR ⋅ nR r0 r0 + b
∫r 0
+ 2𝜋r ⋅ × arccos − arccos ⋅ tp dr
𝜋 r2b r2b

where, mR and m0 are the number of yarns in the cylinder section and the pole hole section,
respectively. nR and n0 are the number of helical winding single layer in the cylinder sec-
tion and the pole hole section, respectively. b represents the yarn width, tp is the thickness
of single yarns, tR is the thickness of helical winding layers in the cylinder section, rb and
r2b are the radius of the parallel circle at one bandwidth and two bandwidths, respectively.
The formula for calculating the fiber thickness beyond the two bandwidths is as
follows:

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 Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 1  Structure and dimension

of the composite pressure vessel

Table 1  Design parameters of Name Value

the composite pressure vessel
R 100 mm
r0 17.5 mm
Pb 87.5 MPa
K 0.7
σfb 2500 MPa
tp 0.2 mm
b 12 mm

R cos 𝛼
t(r) = ⋅t
r cos 𝛼(r) p (6)

The structure and dimension of the composite pressure vessel are shown in Fig. 1.
rb, r2b, r, and t(r) in Fig. 1 are the variables. Table 1 shows the design parameters of
the composite pressure vessel. After calculation, the α is 11°. The tfα and tfθ are 2.6 and
3.44 mm, respectively. Since the fibers must be wound in pairs at positive and negative
angles, the number of helical and hoop winding layers are 14 and 18, respectively.
Figure 2 illustrates the variation curve of dome fiber thickness with the parallel circle
radius obtained using the above method of predicting fiber thickness in the dome sec-
tion. It is shown that the fibers in the dome section are seriously piled up near the pole
hole, which leads to fiber slip and hollowing phenomenon and affects the play of fiber
strength and the stability of the winding process. Therefore, the winding usually adopts
the reaming winding approach, which results in a more uniform distribution of fiber
thickness in the dome section. After the reaming winding, α as follows:

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Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 2  Dome section fiber thick-

ness variation curve with parallel
circle radius

r0 + rib
𝛼 = arcsin (7)
R
where, rib is the radius of the parallel circle corresponding to a certain reaming distance
from the pole hole.
The choice of the reaming number and reaming distance affects the strength perfor-
mance of the composite pressure vessel. This paper uses the cubic spline thickness predic-
tion method to determine the reaming program. The helical winding layer of the pressure
vessel studied in this paper is 14 layers. One helical winding can wind two monolayers
back and forth. Thus, 7 helical windings are required. A smaller number of reaming wind-
ing does not significantly reduce the fiber thickness, and a larger number of reaming wind-
ing minimizes the strength of the pressure vessel. In this paper, the number of reaming
winding is chosen to be 4.
Regarding the reaming distance, the results from half bandwidth and one bandwidth
reaming are compared. Figure 3 shows the fiber thickness distribution of the dome section
with different bandwidths of reaming, and Table 2 shows the fiber thickness maximum and
thickness reduction before and after reaming. It can be seen that both half-bandwidth ream-
ing and one-bandwidth reaming can significantly reduce the fiber thickness maximum.
Since the fourth one-bandwidth reaming winding has a large helical winding angle, which
the winding process cannot realize, a half-bandwidth flare is chosen.
The four half-bandwidth reaming windings correspond to α of 11°, 18°, 21°, and 25°,
respectively, and the corresponding number of winding layers is one bilayer. The number
of helical winding layers with α of 11° is three bilayers.

3 FEA‑ANN‑GA Combined Methodology

This section describes in detail the technique used in this paper. This paper proposes a
combined approach based on numerical simulation (FEA), machine learning (ANN), and
optimal design (GA) techniques, which can accurately and efficiently optimize the stacking

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 Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 3  Fiber thickness distribu-

tion of dome with different
bandwidth reaming

Table 2  Fiber thickness Thickness Reaming distance

maximum and thickness
reduction before and after No reaming Half-bandwidth One-bandwidth
reaming
Maximum(mm) 14.8 8.59 6.75
Reduction(mm) 6.21 8.05
Percentage reduction 42% 54%

sequence of composite pressure vessels. The specific process of this method is as fol-
lows: Firstly, the database required for neural network training is generated based on FEA
method. Secondly, ANN prediction model is developed, and the established prediction
model is applied to GA, which is employed to obtain the optimal stacking sequence. The
framework of the method is shown in Fig. 4.

3.1 Finite Element Analysis

The data required for training ANN is not feasible from an experimental point of view
due to the high cost of manufacturing and testing composite pressure vessels with differ-
ent stacking sequences. Therefore, the data used for ANN learning should be provided by
less costly methods such as numerical simulation methods. FEA is carried out to obtain
the peak stresses in the fiber direction with the design burst pressure of the pressure vessel.
Numerical models were built in ABAQUS, a commercial FEA software, to simulate
the loading internal pressure of the composite pressure vessel, and the liner and composite
layers are modeled in 1/2 to reduce the cost of the numerical calculations. The composites
used for modeling in this study are carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin matrix composites.
The composite engineering constants are shown in Table 3. The composite strength param-
eters are shown in Table 4. The liner material is aluminum alloy 6061-T6. The liner mate-
rial properties are shown in Table 5.

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Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 4  Framework of the proposed optimization method

Table 3  Engineering constants of E1/GPa E2/GPa ν12 ν23 G12/GPa

composite materials
134 9.14 0.27 0.3 3.71

Table 4  Strength parameters of Xt/MPa Xc/MPa Yt/MPa Yc/MPa S/MPa

composite materials
2500 900 44 116 33

Table 5  Properties of aluminum ρ/g/cm3 E/GPa ν σs/MPa σb/MPa

alloy 6061-T6
2.8 74.12 0.28 295 325

As determined in Sect. 2, the composite layer of the pressure vessel consists of 18 hoop
winding layers and 14 helical winding layers. The liner is made of C3D8R continuous solid
units, and the composite layer is selected as S4R shell units. The numerical model applies
four internal pressure load analysis steps: self-tightening pressure, unloading, working
pressure, and design burst pressure, with load sizes of 52.5 MPa, 0, 35 MPa, and 87.5 MPa,
respectively. In addition, the fixed boundary condition is set up at one end of the liner con-
sidering the working conditions. Since the model created is half of the full model, symme-
try boundary conditions are set up for both the liner and composite layers. The properties
of adhesion at the interface between the liner and composite layers are affected by many
factors, including material properties, fiber winding technique, etc. In order to reduce the
variables of the model, the issues of adhesion at the interface are not considered in this
study. The binding constraint is applied between the outer surface of the liner and the inner

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 Applied Composite Materials

surface of the composite layers. Figure 5 shows the boundary conditions and the constraint.
Regarding meshing, the liner and the composite layer are seeded with a global size of
2 mm. The liner is meshed into 58,128 solid elements, and the composite layer is meshed
into 36,600 shell elements. Figure 6 displays mesh models of the liner and composite layer.
Duan et al. [64] demonstrate the effectiveness of the above modeling approach.
The INP file is the input file of ABAQUS, which can be submitted for calculation by
ABAQUS command. Modifying the text data of the INP file can realize the input param-
eters. The ODB file is the result file of ABAQUS, which can be read by Python script.
This study randomly generate 5,000 groups of stacking sequences as the initial sample set.
MATLAB program is written to implement batch modification and submission calcula-
tions for INP files. Python script is written to batch-read the peak stress in the fiber direc-
tion with the design burst pressure from the ODB file. The initial sample set is input into
ANN as a training database.

3.2 Artificial Neural Network

ANN is one of the core technologies in machine learning and deep learning. ANN have the
powerful expressive and learning ability to deal with hidden and complex non-linear rela-
tionships. ANN are commonly used for pattern recognition, classification, and data predic-
tion tasks. In this study, ANN is developed and trained based on the existing data to obtain
an ANN prediction model, which can predict the peak stress in the fiber direction with the
design burst pressure from the stacking sequence of the composite pressure vessel.

Fig. 5  The boundary conditions and constraint

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Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 6  Mesh models of the liner and composite layer

Although there are many different types of ANN, the multi-layer perception (MLP)
structure is the most used in solid mechanics [65], and this architecture is used in this
study. In the MLP structure, neurons are arranged in layers to form input, hidden, and out-
put layers. The input and output layers are single layers containing the number of neurons
equal to the number of ANN input and output variables, respectively. The number of layers
in the hidden layer and neurons in each layer are not deterministic. They are usually deter-
mined by modifying different values and thus comparing the network output errors. Since
this study is conducted to analyze the effect of the stacking sequence of the pressure vessel,
the input variable of ANN is the stacking sequence of the pressure vessel, and the output
variable is the peak stress in the fiber direction with the design burst pressure. In this study,
the composite layers contain six layer angles (11°, 14°, 18°, 21°, 25°, and 90°), of which
there are three 11° layers, nine 90° layers, and one each of the remaining angle layers, for a
total of 16 layers. Accordingly, the number of neurons in the input layer is 16 (the number
of layers), and there is only one neuron in the output layer.

3.3 Genetic Algorithm

This paper use MATLAB to write a procedure suitable for optimizing the stacking
sequence of composite pressure vessels. FEA is used to avoid using complicated fitness
functions. The peak stress value in the fiber direction with the design burst pressure from
FEA results is used as the value of the fitness function. When ANN prediction accuracy
reaches the expectation, ANN prediction model is applied to GA to save time.
GA is an optimization algorithm based on the ideas of biological evolution and genetics.
GA has global search ability and better robustness, which can solve complex multidimen-
sional nonlinear problems better. GA is suitable for discrete optimization problems and is
widely used in optimization, machine learning, intelligent control, combinatorial optimi-
zation, and other fields. The basic idea of GA is to find the optimal solution by simulat-
ing the processes of natural selection, crossover, and mutation to evolve a set of solutions
continuously. Specifically, GA generates a random set of initial solutions (individuals) and
calculates the fitness of each individual. Then, select some better individuals according to

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 Applied Composite Materials

their fitness. Next, perform crossover and mutation procedures to create a new group of
individuals. Repeat this process until a good solution or the desired number of iterations
has been reached.
GA has been proven to be the optimal optimization tool by many scholars in the optimal
design of composite laminates. In this paper, GA is chosen to optimize the design of the
composite pressure vessel, with the peak fiber direction stress under the design burst pres-
sure of the composite pressure vessel as the objective function, the stacking sequence as
the design variable, and the fiber direction stress less than the fiber tensile strength as the
constraint condition. The optimization problem can be described as:
Minimize MaxS1 1(x),
Subject to MaxS1 1(x) < 𝜎fb , (8)
[ ]
x = 𝛼1 , 𝛼2 , 𝛼3 ⋯ , 𝛼16

where, MaxS11(x) is the peak stress in the fiber direction with the design burst pressure, σfb
is the fiber tensile strength, x is the stacking sequence of the composite pressure vessel, and
αi,i = 1,2,…,16 is the fiber winding angle.

4 Results

This section includes ANN development process and GA optimization results. The study
of ANN characteristic parameters (number of neurons, number of hidden layers, etc.) is
carried out to obtain the optimal network.

4.1 Artificial Neural Network Implementation

The initial set of samples required by ANN training is obtained through FEA in the pre-
vious section, and ANN is developed based on MATLAB. In this paper, 5000 randomly
generated instances are selected for the neural network training process, divided into three
groups: (I) The training set includes 3500 samples for network training. (II) The validation
set contains 750 samples for tuning the model hyperparameters. (III) The test set consists
of 750 samples for evaluating the model performance. The ratio of training, testing and val-
idation sets for the artificial neural network is determined empirically. After training, ANN
can use an arbitrary fiber stacking sequence to predict the peak stress in the fiber direction
with the design burst pressure.
This study compares three popular neural network backpropagation training algorithms,
which are the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm, the Bayesian Regularization (BR)
algorithm, and the Scaled Conjugate Gradient (SCG) algorithm. A single hidden layer neu-
ral network model containing ten neurons is built, and the mean square error of the predic-
tion results is used as the neural network performance evaluation index. Figure 7 shows the
neural network performance of the three training algorithms. The LM algorithm is fast to
train, easy to converge, and has a small error; the BR algorithm is slow to train and does
not have a validation set, and therefore suffers from the overfitting problem; and the SCG
algorithm is fast to train but has a large error, and is not suitable for this dataset. So, this
paper chooses the LM algorithm as the neural network training algorithm.
Regarding the number of hidden layers of an ANN, the number of hidden layers is
equal to one, which can fit an arbitrary function that is continuously mapped from one

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Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 7  Neural network performance of three training algorithms

finite space to another; the number of hidden layers is equal to two, which allows choosing
an appropriate activation function to represent an arbitrary decision boundary with arbi-
trary precision and to fit an arbitrary smooth mapping with arbitrary precision; the number
of hidden layers is greater than two, and the additional hidden layers can learn complex
descriptions. Theoretically, the deeper the number of hidden layers, the better the ability
to fit the function, but in practice, deeper layers may bring the problem of overfitting and
increase the difficulty of training, making it difficult for the model to converge [66]. Given
this, the number of hidden layers is chosen to be two.
There are many empirical arguments for determining the number of hidden layer neu-
rons, but the optimal number needs to be obtained through continuous experimentation
[67, 68]. This study initially determines the number of hidden layer neurons by the follow-
ing empirical formulae:
where, h is the number of hidden layer neurons, n is the number of input layer neurons,
m is the number of output layer neurons, and c∈ [1, 10]. The number of hidden layer neu-
rons h∈ [5, 15] is calculated.
The neural network established in this study has two hidden layers. In order to inves-
tigate the effect of the number of neurons in each hidden layer on the performance of the
neural network, this paper designs orthogonal tests with the number of neurons in each of
the two hidden layers as a factor and the mean square error of the validation set is used as
an evaluation index for the performance of the neural network.
Each scheme of orthogonal tests was trained ten times, and the validation error obtained
from the ten training sessions was averaged to represent the neural network performance.
Figure 8 shows the average value of the validation error corresponding to different num-
bers of neurons (h1,h2) for the two hidden layers. When the number of neurons in the first
hidden layer is 14 and the number of neurons in the second hidden layer is 10, the aver-
age value of the validation error of the neural network is the smallest, which reaches 9.36.
Therefore, 14 and 10 neurons are chosen for the two hidden layers.
After selecting the number of neurons in the hidden layer, several more training sessions
were carried out to obtain an optimal neural network model with a validation error of 4.76.
Figure 9 shows some training records of the optimal model. The validation error of the
neural network model tends to stabilize after 120 iterations of training, and the model vali-
dation finally converges in the 132nd generation, when the validation error of the neural
network reaches a minimum. Figure 10 shows the regression fitting of the peak stress in the
fiber direction with the design burst pressure obtained with FEA to the prediction of ANN
model, with a correlation coefficient R of 0.99998. The results show that the prediction of
ANN is very close to the numerical simulation results. Therefore, ANN can predict the

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 Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 8  Mean values of validation

errors corresponding to different
numbers of neurons in the hidden
layer

Fig. 9  Performance of the neural

network during iterative training:
“Train”, “Validation” and “Test”
correspond to the training, vali-
dation and testing errors

peak fiber-directional stresses at design burst pressure for composite pressure vessels with
different stacking sequences.
Figure 11 shows the structure of the designed neural network. [α1, α2, α3,…, α16]
denotes the defined design variables, i.e. the stacking sequence of the composite pressure
vessel. O1 is the output of the network, i.e. the peak stress in the fiber direction with the
design burst pressure.
Next, activation function of the network are chosen based on the trial and error method.
Table 6 describes the parameters of the adopted ANN, including the number of neurons
and the transfer function of each layer.
As the parameters of the neural network are determined, the effect of the training data-
base size on the performance of the neural network is investigated, and the corresponding
optimal network is obtained by training the database of different sizes several times. Fig-
ure 12 shows the validation errors of the corresponding best networks with varying sizes of

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Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 10  Regression fitting of

neural network predicted values
to target values

Fig. 11  Neural network structure

Table 6  ANN parameters Name Value

Number of hidden layers 2

Number of neurons in the first HL 14
Number of neurons in the second HL 10
HL activation function Tangent Sigmoid
Output layer activation function Pure linear Unit
Training algorithms Levenberg-Marquardt
Training samples 70%
Testing samples 15%
Validating samples 15%

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 Applied Composite Materials

training databases, and obviously, the validation error decreases as the number of samples
in the database increases.
Figure 13 shows the comparison of R vs. MSE for different sizes of training databases
corresponding to the best network. When the size of the training database is 1000, the vali-
dation error is 20.12, and the performance of the neural network meets the requirement,
so a smaller training database can be chosen to save the development time of the neural
network.

4.2 GA Optimization

In GA, all the layer angles of the composite pressure vessel are encoded in integer form.
The initial population of GA is generated randomly. The optimization process consists of
three genetic operations: selection, crossover, and mutation. The three genetic operations
allow the generation of a new population (offspring) from the current population (parent).
The selection operation generates the next generation using a roulette method with an elit-
ist strategy. The crossover operation performs the two-points crossover. The mutation oper-
ation swaps two randomly selected codes in a chromosome.
Too small a population size may cause the algorithm to fall into a local optimum solu-
tion, and too large a population size increases the computational complexity. Too small
a number of iterations may not converge to the global optimum, while too large a num-
ber of iterations will increase the computational time. Too small a selection probability
may lead to premature convergence of the algorithm, and too large a selection probability
may reduce the diversity of the population. Too small a crossover probability and muta-
tion probability can cause the population to fall into a local optimum solution, and too
large a crossover probability and mutation probability may destroy valid gene combina-
tions. Based on experience and experimentation, the parameters of GA were determined, as
shown in Table 7.
In this study, the hardware platform for algorithm execution is as follows: the operat-
ing system is Windows 11, the RAM is 16GB, and the CPU is AMD Ryzen 7 4800 H.
GPU acceleration is not used. If FEA is used to obtain the fitness function value of GA,
an optimization process will take more than 600 h, of which a single FEA takes about

Fig. 12  Validation errors for

different sizes of training data-
base corresponding to the best
network

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Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 13  Comparison of R and MSE for the best network corresponding to different sizes of training data-
base

Table 7  GA parameters Name Value

Number of Population 100

Selection 50%
Crossover 60%
Mutation 5%
Number of Generation 200

2 min. Training the neural network using 5000 sets of training samples takes about
150 h. Using the trained neural network instead of FEA reduces the computation of
the optimization technique, and the optimization process takes less than 1 min, so the
efficiency of the optimization method of GA using the neural network can be improved
by more than four times. Since GA is a stochastic optimization method, it must be run
several times to ensure the optimization algorithm does not fall into the local optimum.

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 Applied Composite Materials

Fig. 14  Variation curve of peak

stress in the fiber direction with
the number of iterations

Fig. 15  Optimum stacking

sequence

FEA evaluates the fitness function with a long computation time. When ANN is trained,
the predicted fitness function values can be used any number of times.
Figure 14 shows a typical GA optimization process. The MaxS11 of the best individual
in the initial population is 2083.8 MPa. The global optimal solution appears in the 68th
generation. At this time, the neural network model predicts 1304.7 MPa, the FEA valida-
tion value is 1306.3 MPa, and the prediction error of the neural network model is 0.12%.
After the optimization, the MaxS11 is reduced by 37.3%. The optimal stacking sequence
is shown in Fig. 15, the stacking sequence of the composite pressure vessel is [± ­142,
±114,906, ±252, ±112,904, ±182,906, ±212,902].
After the stacking sequence optimization, the stress concentration of the composite
pressure vessel is reduced under the same internal pressure, and then its burst pressure is
increased. In order to determine the maximum burst pressure of the composite pressure
vessel, the maximum burst pressure analysis step is added after the design burst pressure

13
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Applied Composite Materials

analysis step. By adjusting the load size in the maximum burst pressure analysis step, the
peak stress in the fiber direction reaches the fiber tensile strength. At this point, the load
in the analysis step is the maximum burst pressure of the composite pressure vessel. After
several FEA, the maximum burst pressure of the pressure vessel before and after optimiza-
tion is obtained. The maximum burst pressure before optimization is 106.1 MPa, and the
maximum burst pressure after optimization is 120.3 MPa, an increase of 13.4% in burst
pressure before and after optimization.

5 Conclusions and Outlook

In this paper, an efficient optimization methodology for stacking sequence of composite

pressure vessels is proposed. With the proposed optimization, the peak stress in the fiber
direction can be reduced significantly, which means the burst strength of the pressure ves-
sel can be improved. To overcome the bottleneck in high computational cost resulted by the
vast FEA calculation in GA, the neural network model is adopted. The specific conclusions
are as follows:

1. The prediction results of the neural network model trained in this paper have an error
of 0.12% from FEA results. In addition, the optimization efficiency of the optimization
method proposed in this paper can be improved more than four times compared with
the optimization method of GA without using the neural network model.
2. The optimization results show that the peak stress in the fiber direction with the design
burst pressure can be reduced by 37.3%, and the burst pressure of the composite pres-
sure vessel can be increased by 13.4% by simply optimizing the stacking sequence of
the composite pressure vessel while keeping the number of laminations and the winding
angle unchanged.

In the manufacturing process of composite pressure vessels, this method can be inte-
grated into a script or plug-in of ABAQUS software, where specific parameters (e.g. ves-
sel dimensions, material parameters, working pressure, etc.) are entered in order to obtain
an optimized result (optimal stacking sequence). Kanak et al. [69] combined a genetic
algorithm with the finite element method to design skew composite plates for maximized
fundamental frequency. Furthermore, the parameters of the genetic algorithm are exten-
sively studied to ensure a robust optimized stacking sequence. This study is necessary and
is very informative for our work. Thus, the sensitivity analysis are needed in future studies
to understand the effect of changes in input parameters on the optimization results. The
method optimizes different models requiring reconstruction of the ABAQUS model and
generation of a sample set of neural networks. Due to this optimization method avoids the
need to build complex theoretical models, the method can be used to optimize the stacking
sequence and layer angle of complex composite structures.
Acknowledgements This research is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant
number 52075361), Shanxi Province Science and Technology Major Project (Grant number 20201102003),
Shanxi-Zheda Institute of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering (Grant number 2022SX-TD021),
Lvliang Science and Technology Guidance Special Key R&D Project (Grant No.2022XDHZ08), Funda-
mental Research Program of Shanxi Province (Grant No. 202203021221053).

Author Contributions Jianguo Liang and Zemin Ning wrote the main manuscript text. Yinhui Li, Haifeng
Gao, and Jianglin Liu checked the manuscript text structure and grammar. Wang Tian, Xiaodong Zhao,

13
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 Applied Composite Materials

Zhaotun Jia, Yuqin Xue, and Chunxiang Miao modified the figure styles. All authors reviewed the
manuscript.

Data Availability No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

Declarations
Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests.

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 Applied Composite Materials

Authors and Affiliations

Jianguo Liang1 · Zemin Ning1 · Yinhui Li2 · Haifeng Gao1 · Jianglin Liu1 · Wang Tian1 ·
Xiaodong Zhao1 · Zhaotun Jia1 · Yuqin Xue1 · Chunxiang Miao1

* Jianguo Liang
liangjianguo20@tyut.edu.cn
Zemin Ning
ningzemin1999@163.com
Yinhui Li
liyinhui@tyut.edu.cn
Haifeng Gao
gaohaifeng@tyut.edu.cn
Jianglin Liu
liujianglin@tyut.edu.cn
Wang Tian
tianw0828@163.com
Xiaodong Zhao
zxd_jordan@qq.com
Zhaotun Jia
1204611894@qq.com
Yuqin Xue
316167772@qq.com
Chunxiang Miao
1183496461@qq.com
1
College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology,
Taiyuan 030024, China
2
College of Information and Computer, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China

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