Optimal strength of a flexible high-pressure hose with two steel braids

The flexible high-pressure hose we consider in this paper, is a rubber tube reinforced by two steel braids. Each of the latter consists of two families of thin steel wires which are wound helicoidally around the cylinder. In order to achieve an optimal strength of the tube, the stresses in the wires of the two braids must be much the same. We investigate whether this can be accomplished by a proper choice of the braid angles of the two braids. Throughout this paper we apply a linear theory.