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Composite Design Section 3 of 3

AMTS-SWP-0049-F-2011


AMTS STANDARD WORKSHOP PRACTICE
_________________________________________



Composite design Section 3 of 3: Composite design and
analysis software

Reference Number:

AMTS-SWP-0049-F-2011

Date:

November 2011

Version:

Final






Composite Design Section 3 of 3
AMTS-SWP-0049-F-2011


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Contents

1 Scope ............................................................................................................................ 2
2 Technical terms.............................................................................................................. 2
3 Primary references ......................................................................................................... 3
4 Interacting of Software ................................................................................................... 4
5 Comparison between Laminate software ....................................................................... 5
6 Considerations regarding composite software. ............................................................... 6
6.1 Model creation ........................................................................................................ 6
6.2 Material properties .................................................................................................. 7
6.3 Meshing .................................................................................................................. 7
6.4 General analysis ..................................................................................................... 7
6.5 Failure Analysis ...................................................................................................... 8
6.6 Design optimization ................................................................................................. 8
6.7 Manufacturing ......................................................................................................... 9
7 Links to various software ................................................................................................ 9


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1 Scope

A sophisticated analysis plays an important role in the development of aerospace structures.

It is required that many specialities are combined on an overall problem in any complex
design structure. For each of these specialities the specific knowledge must be known by
the designer. [1]

This SWP is part 1 of three SWPs which covers the following information:

SWP 42: Composite design Section 1 of 3
- Composite definition
- Composite classification
- Basic terminology
- Lamina Theory
- Laminate Analysis Theory
- Static strength life of composites
Theory
- Beam Analysis theory

SWP 48: Composite design Section 2 of 3
- Fundamentals of Composite design
decisions
- Advantages / Disadvantages
- General guidelines for composite
designs

SWP 49: Composite design Section 3 of 3
- Interacting of software
- Comparison of various software tools
- Considerations in software
- Links to various software



2 Technical terms

Laminate analysis
software
Software tools for the design and analysis of composite material
laminates of which the algorithms is based on the Classical
Laminate Theory.
Classical Laminate
Theory
An approach where the laminates are assumed to be of infinite
length and widths, i.e. edge effects are ignored. Plane stress state
is assumed and certain stress components are ignored.
Laminate A thin plate of infinite length and width, made up of one or more
orthotropic laminae bonded together, each of potentially different
thickness and material, and each with the principal stiffness axis (or
Fibres) at a user-defined orientation.






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3 Primary references

The main sources used for this document are indicated below. At the time of publication, the
editions indicated were valid. All standards are subject to revision, and parties to agreements
based on this document are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most
recent editions of the standards indicated below:

[1] LAP, 2010. LAP user manual for Laminate analysis Program version 4.x for
windows. Revision 5. Anaglyph
[2] LAP, 2010. Laminate analysis Program demonstration, Microsoft Power point.
Anaglyph.
[3] ESACOMP, 2010. Quick Start guide for EsaComp version 4.3.
[4] Waterman, P.J.1 May 2011. Options for Composites Analysis and Simulation. Find
your comfort zone with todays software tools. Desktop engineering.
[5] Waterman P.J. 2 March 2009. Composite Analysis: Making New Choices. An
engineering and design gide to choosing software for working with todays composite
materials. Desktop Engineering.


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4 Interacting of Software

When compared to traditional engineering materials, like steel, the material and
manufacturing costs of composites are high; therefore the superior performance of the end
product must be achieved by careful designing involving software. The flow chart in figure 1
shows how Laminate Tools interacts with other engineering software applications. [4]

The two major different approaches in composite designing software is a CAD environment
or an ANALYSIS environment. Any finite element analysis tool, or FEA package, is not
sufficient to design, manufacture or create decent composite models, it is only for analysing.
[4]

The difference in the two approaches is as follow [4]:
Design works with very detailed, complete, producible design
Analysis work with simplified models made for analysis of buckling, delamination,
noise or vibration.

Any application should be identified by its complexity as an guide to which approach should
be followed.


Figure 1: Typical Anaglyph Laminate tools composite analysis flow chart [4]



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5 Comparison between Laminate software

The following table explains the difference in composite software packages in categories
from modelling to general and complex FE analysis[4]:

Table 1: Spectrum of composite software [4]
CATEGORY EXPLANATION COMPANY (PRODUCT)
LAMINATE ANALYSIS
Laminate analysis packages: Based on
Classical Laminate Theory, these tools
allow you to define a flat laminate material
made of an arbitrary stack of lamina, and
calculate stresses and material failure at a
given point under a given load.
Anaglyph (Laminate Analysis Program LAP),
Componeering (ESAComp, ComPoLyX), Lindell
(The Laminator)
SUBSTRUCTURE
ANALYSIS
Substructure analysis: This type of software
calculates stresses and material failures in
simple composite structures such as tubes,
beams and other straightforward
configurations.
Anaglyph (Component Design Analysis CoDA),
Componeering (ESAComp)
MICROMECHANICAL
STRUCTURE
ANALYSIS
Micromechanical structure analysis: This
process creates detailed micromechanical
models of a composites structure to
calculate elastic and failure properties,
particularly progressive failure. These tools
are often linked to, or integrated within,
non-linear FEA solvers to predict failure.
e-Xstream Engineering (DIGIMAT), Firehole
Composites (Helius:MCT, Prospector:
Composites and Helius: CompositePro), Alpha
STAR Corporation (ASC) (GENOA),
Componeering (ESAComp)
FINITE ELEMENT
ANALYSIS (FEA)
FEA: Most FEA packages allow users to
define laminated composite materials on
shell elements. More advanced packages
support laminated solid and beam
elements. A few even support ply-level
modeling, where you can define the
orientation of the material at each element.
ADINA, Altair (HyperWorks), ANSYS, Autodesk
(Algor), COMSOL, Cranes Software (NISA),
LUSAS (LUSAS Plus Composite), MSC.Software,
NEi Nastran, SAMTECH, Siemens PLM Software
(NX), SIMULIA (Abaqus/CAE), Strand7,
Vanderplaats R&D (GENESIS)
FEA OPTIMIZATION
FEA optimization software: This software
works in conjunction with FEA tools and
ties into the manufacturing process by
modifying the composites layup on
elements, using an optimization strategy to
achieve the required structural response.
Collier Research Corp. (HyperSizer), ESI Group
(SYSPLY), e-Xstream Engineering (DIGIMAT),
Vanderplaats R&D (GENESIS), Componeering
(ESAComp)
FEA-BASED
INTERGRATED
DESIGN/ANALYSIS/
MANUFACTURE
FEA-based Integrated
Design/Analysis/Manufacture: In an FEA
environment, users can define a high-
fidelity composites model by simulating the
manufacturing process of each ply, building
up the stack model.
MSC.Software (Patran Laminate Modeler),
Simulayt Composites Modeler for Abaqus/CAE
(SIMULIA), Simulayt Composites Modeler for
Femap (Siemens PLM Software), VISTAGY with
ANSYS, Anaglyph (Laminate Tools for Nastran
and ANSYS)
CAD-BASED
INTERGRATED
DESIGN/ANALYSIS/
MANUFACTURE
CAD-based Integrated
Design/Analysis/Manufacture: In a familiar
CAD environment, these tools let users
define plies using boundary curves on an
underlying surface (rather than specifying
shell FEs).
Dassault Systmes (CATIA V5/V6 Composites
Design) (with Partner Products: ESI Group
PAM-RTM for CATIA V5, Simulayt Advanced
Fiber Modeler for CATIA V5/V6, Composites Link
for CATIA V5/V6), VISTAGY (FiberSIM for NX,
ANSYS, Pro/ENGINEER and CATIA V4/V5),
Simulayt (Composites Modeler for SolidWorks),
Anaglyph (Laminate Tools for SolidWorks)


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6 Considerations regarding composite software.

The following list is questions and situations to consider when dealing with any composite
design structure. The answers are applicable to durability and manufacturability. [5]

6.1 Model creation

Composite-based models for FEA incorporate the general defining of the geometry, material
properties and meshing. The difference when working with non-isotropic materials is that
the software lets you define the differing nuances of each layer. 3D-CAD and analysis
packages do support this in general, but how the software approach it and the other
supporting additions need to be considered [5]:

Virtually unlimited number of possible layers
Different designs calls for different number of layers, some are only 5 layers and
others may require thousands. Restrictions in the modelling should not be a
problem for any composite software.
Import layer data
It is important to be able to import layer data such as stiffness and strength from
spreadsheets.
Easy insertion / deleting of layers
Layers should be able to be easily inserted or deleted and any point of the process.
Defining of fibre orientation angles
The software should be able to handle angles with respect to global axis, local axis,
normal to the shell surfaces and a plane defined by two intersecting planes, or along an
arbitrary curve.
Mixing of composite and non-composite elements
It must be possible to mix elements such as beams, springs and shells made of
metallic structures with the composite elements.
Glues and adhesives modelling between layers
It is preferred that the flues and adhesives are surface-based cohesive contact and
not just very thin layers.
Defining of cores
It should be possible to define layers as honeycombs or to be able to include rebar
material.
Physical property updating
It should be possible for the design to have physical holes and updating of
thicknesses, angles and material properties should be easy. The modelling process
should also be able to correspond to different manufacturing processes like hand-
layup, filament winding, compression moulding and infusion.



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6.2 Material properties

The applicable software should be able to define specific material properties. It should either
have its own database or it should be capable of importing material properties from
commercial services such as MatWeb and Matereality. The following questions should be
asked regarding material properties [5]:
Does it allow unit-cell-based micro-material models? Can it also incorporate
continuum material models? Can it handle a mix of elastic and inelastic
materials?
Can you designate fibre packing as well as braided or woven configurations?
Can you introduce random variations in fibre orientation to allow for
manufacturing realities?
Can you enter equivalent stiffnesss as a starting point, especially early in the
design phase, and then replace those values on a layer-by-layer basis?
Does the software allow user-defined equations in the property matrix?
Is any necessary unit-conversion handled automatically?

6.3 Meshing

After the completion of the model there should be options for directing the meshing (FE
definition) process. The two different approaches are solid elements or layered shell
elements. Mostly analysts starts by modelling the structure as a layered shell element and
then switch to a detailed solid element mesh for the understanding of, for example, inter-
laminar shear stresses. Such a change should be automatically extracted, especially from
the mid-planes. [5]

6.4 General analysis

Both implicit and explicit solvers should be offered by the software, as well as macro- and
micro-mechanical analysis at the following levels [5]:
Global level: Structure Deflection, buckling, natural frequency
Ply/layer level: inter-laminar shear formations and stresses
Matrix level: detailed stress distribution within a single layer

Other important functions within general analysis of the software should include, if possible,
[5]:
The same FEA model use for both implicit and explicit solutions.
Should be able to handle metal-matrix, ceramic-matrix and polymer-matrix
composites
An option should be available to compute equivalent material properties in either
the pre-processor or the solver.
Material properties should be able to change in proportion of the geometry and
shape.
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It should be able to account for heat transfer effects and solve simultaneously for
multi-physics like conductivity, thermal and fluid structure interactions.
It should account for initial strains in the different composite layers, like pre-
loaded layers during manufacturing.
Should be able to compute out-of-plane stress (Stress in the z-axis), inter-laminar
shear and peel stresses. (In addition to the classical laminate theory in-plane
stresses and strains.)

All the mentioned properties will make visualization harder and thus more critical. The
following display options should be available at orientated angles and normal layer-by-layer
[5]:
Stress results for core, worst and specified lamina
Strain for composite elements (initial, mechanical and total)
Damage energy density

6.5 Failure Analysis

Damage modelling of composite structure is critical in the analysis software. The failure
modes of composite and laminate materials are subject to different failure modes than those
found in single-material structures. Degradation of the performance is subjected to both
delamination (Laminate based failure) and fibre/matrix breakdown (ply based failure) on
different levels of severity. For example, the outer layers can wrinkle, crimp or dimple and
damage of one layer can equate to failure of the entire part or not. [5]

BVID (Barely visible impact damage) investigation should be possible for the software with
the definition allowable damage tolerance and own macros. Simple values like maximum
strain and stress, quadratic Tsai-Wu, Hill, and Hoffman failure modes should be included.
Some of the newer criteria will account for fibre/matrix failure separately using models like
Hashin-Fabric, Hashin-Tape and Puck.[5]

Other properties that could be useful include [5]:
Crush simulation
Public-domain VCCT code for post processing and re-meshing of progressive
crack growth propagation between bonded surfaces.
Immediate or gradual stiffness reduction for matrix and fibres
Damage addition at simulation
De-activation of simulate material removal/breaking
Fatigue analysis (rare capability on composite analysis)

6.6 Design optimization

Typically the composite material is optimized for the perfect strength to weight ratio. The
large number of variables, however, makes the optimization an important task and may lead
to overall conservative designing. The following should be kept in mind:
Provision for interactive optimization capabilities to determine for a given load
environment the lightest weight combination of material systems and ply layups.
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Easy re-orientation of layers, stacking sequences or material type change to
compare behavioural differences.
Optimization of a complete structural entity such as wings or fuselages.
Handling of sandwich/ solid-laminate structures.
Coupling with other solver software and pre/post-processors.
Tolerances in design parameters and variation of it.
Objective optimization like low vibration/multiple objectives.

6.7 Manufacturing

The simulations can provide insight to the model, but only theoretically and a real product
must still be manufactured. An interface between the analysis software and the various
manufacturing solution packages should be available. The some of the following terms
should be available; draping, taping, braiding, flat-patterns and ply drop-offs. The software
must also be able to help with incorporate non-geometric details such as glues, fasteners,
coatings and sealants, and predict any expected shrinkage, thermal warping and spring-back. [5]





7 Links to various software

LAP: http://www.anaglyph.co.uk/LAP.htm

ESAComp: http://www.esacomp.com/overview/what-is-esacomp

PATRAN: http://www.mscsoftware.com/Products/CAE-Tools/Patran.aspx

NASTRAN: http://www.mscsoftware.com/

SOLIDWORKS:http://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/details.htm?partnerID
=58&productID=833

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