S6-1 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation SECTION 6 MAKING PLIES WITH MSC.LAMINATE MODELER Ply #1 Ply #2

S6-2 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation

S6-3 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation PROBLEMS WITH USE OF LAMINATES n Laminate material description of layup is only efficient for large, flat structures n Composites are particularly effective when used to manufacture curved surfaces n Fibre directions can change dramatically around corners, requiring multiple laminate materials (and multiple element property regions) n Reinforcing patches dramatically increase the number of laminate materials required

S6-4 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation n A conclusion that can be arrived at from these four comments is that the method presented up until now has severe restrictions, and it is not practical to use it for real world applications n The remainder of this course will show how to better represent a laminate material using the power of MSC.Laminate Modeler PROBLEMS WITH USE OF LAMINATES (Cont.)

S6-5 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation TRADITIONAL SOLVER SIMULATION FOR COMPOSITE STRUCTURES n Calculation approach u Layup definitions are done on an element-wise manner, with no regard to keeping elements separated by ply/lamina u Lamina directions are related to global coordinate axes, and does not follow surface curvature n Results u Changes are difficult to implement u Results are difficult to interpret as present (solver) recovery is on the basis of elements not ply/lamina u Optimization difficult u Tedious work leads to simplifications and an inaccurate model

S6-6 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF PROPERTY SETS n A surface with three property(i.e. thickness, strain angle) sets

S6-7 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation n Six property sets required for the addition of one reinforcement ply SIMPLE EXAMPLE OF PROPERTY SETS (Cont.) Reinforcement ply

S6-8 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation n With more than limited curvature, several materials need to be defined ModelPly #1 Ply #2 Thicknesses (4) Materials (5) Properties ( 36) COMPLEX EXAMPLE OF PROPERTY SETS

S6-9 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation PLY REPRESENTATION IN MSC.LAMINATE MODELER n Build model on basis of plies. It is analogous to manufacturing process. n Rapid modification of layup(collection of plies) possible, allowing easy modification Conventional laminate material representation of layup MSC.Laminate Modeler descriptive ply-based representation of layup

S6-10 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation CREATING MATERIALS FOR PLYS Now, have specified a lamina roll n MSC.Laminate Modeler material menu u Enter the name of the material being created, or use the default name u Select Analysis Material name(previously created in MSC.Patran) u Enter Additional Properties l Thickness l Maximum Strain (angle) l Warp/Weft Angle l These values are dependent on the sheet material construction

S6-11 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation CREATING PLIES n Application region u Specifies the region of the model where the ply is to be applied n Application point u Specifies the location where the application of the ply is to begin n Application direction u Specifies the side of the surface to which the ply is to be added l Side is specified for which arrow is pointed at n Reference direction u Specifies the direction of the fiber. The ply fiber may be rotated relative to this direction. n Reference angle u Used to specify ply fiber rotation relative to the reference direction. Application direction (view direction) Reference direction Reference angle Application region Application point

S6-12 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation CREATING PLIES (Cont.) n MSC.Laminate Modeler ply menu u Enter the name of the ply being created, or use the default name u Select material name(created in MSC.Laminate Modeler) u Select Area(application region) surfaces or elements, e.g. Surface 1:5 u Start Point(application point) location, e.g. Node 101 u Application Direction at Start Point l Normal u Reference Direction, e.g. u Reference Angle, e.g (degrees)

S6-13 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation DEMONSTRATION OF PLY MENU INPUTS Simple Model With One Surface And 100 Elements Create a Point to be Used to Orient Model Point 5: [ ]

S6-14 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation DEMONSTRATION OF PLY MENU INPUTS (Cont.)

S6-15 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation DEMONSTRATION OF PLY MENU INPUTS (Cont.) Application Direction vector

S6-16 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation DEMONSTRATION OF PLY MENU INPUTS (Cont.) Turn model to see Application Direction vector better Application Direction vector

S6-17 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation Construct 2PointVector(Evaluate Geometry(Point 2)) (Evaluate Geometry(Point 3)) DEMONSTRATION OF PLY MENU INPUTS (Cont.)

S6-18 PAT325, Section 6, February 2004 Copyright 2004 MSC.Software Corporation WORKING PROCEDURE n The procedure explained is repeated until all plies are described n Remember that a ply may be used several times in a layup. n The next step is to build a layup using the plies that have been created n It is possible to create new plies or alter the existing plies somewhat after an analysis