Design of Lightweight and Durable Composite Structures

In the field of engineering design, "factors of safety" are derivatives of inadequate knowledge and therefore are a necessary, but costly, element of engineering design. Designing components with excessively high factors of safety is needless overdesign that results in partial loss of component functionality and increased costs to produce and use the component. To design components that incorporate rational factors of safety, engineers must have precise knowledge of both a component's performance requirements and the properties of its constituent materials during fabrication and while in service.