Hello Everyone,
Its been only a short time that I have been working with Matlab Optimization Tool box. So here, I have a doubt in a particular case where the number of design variables vary along with the whole process of optimization. I could put it this way, I need to optimize a composite laminate with the least number of layers which should also satisfy the failure criteria. But here, the design variables are the number of plies(N) and their corresponding angles, so if x(1)=N=10, then there are 11 design variables (10 angles and N). In this case, the value of N gets optimized and the number of design variables keep on changing. In this kind of a problem, how will I specify the lower and upper bounds initially ?
Because, if I provide the lb=[2 0 0] ub=[10 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90], which means minimum of two plies and the least angle is zero degrees. The maximum is 10 plies and the upper bound for the angles is 90 degrees. Obviously this gives an error, as the dimensions are different for lb and ub.
Could anyone help me out in this kind of optimization problem. I could explain the problem elaborately if any one finds it hard to understand !!!
