Manufacturing characteristics of the filament winding process, such as the formation of a winding pattern, are usually disregarded in conventional numerical models. However, they could significantly affect stress and strain fields in thin-walled composite shells. This work presents an efficient way to realistically model the filament winding mosaic pattern in composite cylindrical shells under axial compression. The study comprises the linear finite element (FE) Eigenvalue and Eigenvector buckling model of thin-walled composite cylindrical shells using commercial software. A conventional model was developed and an optimization algorithm was used to find the highest Eigenvalue. After the optimum fiber angle was found, it was used for winding pattern drawing and modeling. Three winding patterns were modeled: 1/1, 3/1 and 5/1, where the numerator means the number of diamonds around the number of circumferences indicated by the denominator. The optimum angle-ply fiber layout found was [±30], which reached the highest critical buckling load. The winding pattern influenced the critical buckling load, and the 1/1, 3/1 and 5/1 patterns showed critical buckling loads of 11.237, 11.173 and 11.194 kN, respectively, whereas the conventional modeling approach indicates a critical load of 8.574 kN.
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