BasicsofCompositeModelingforEngineers

Presenter: GeorgeLaird,PhD,PE,PrincipalMechanicalEngineer
Location: BoeingsFutureofFlight, PaineField,May19,2016

FEA,CFD&LSDYNATraining,Supportand SiemensNXCAD,CAM,CAE,TeamcenterandFemap
Consulting andNXNastranSales


SEMINAROUTLINE
BasicsofCompositeModelingforEngineers
Onceyouremoveabitofthefear,uncertaintyanddoubtaboutcompositesimulation,
buildingaccuratefirstorderFEMsisprettybasic.Wearegoingtofocusontheunderlying
basisofhowcompositesfunctionandshowhowthistiestosimpleandverifiablesimulation
modelsthatcanbeeasilyvalidatedforcommonengineeringapplications.Thisbackground
shouldallowonetoworkcomfortablywithbasicstructuresandalsoknowwhentopunttoa
specialist.

WhoarePredictiveEngineeringandAppliedCAx?
PredictiveEngineeringisa20+yearengineeringconsultancythatspecializesinfiniteelement
analysisusingFEMAP,NXNastranandLSDYNA.Wearesimulationengineersthathavebuilt
hundredsofFEAmodelsthathavebeenvalidatedintestandinlongtermservice.Our
practicespansfromsatellitestominingequipmenttosubmarines.Wearegeneraliststhatcan
leverageexpertizefromdiversesectorstoprovidenewinsightstoourclients.
AppliedCAxisaSiemensPLMSoftwarevalueaddedresellerthatisfocusedondeliveringthe
industryshighestleveloftechnicalsupportforthesoftwarethattheyadvocate.Predictive
EngineeringisacoownerofAppliedandprovidesfirstlinetechnicalsupport,trainingand
startupservicestoAppliedsCAEclients(e.g.,FEMAP,NXNastran,NXAdvCAE).

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YouWinYOUAREHERE

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1. INTRODUCTION
Theideaistoprovidearoadmaponhowonecanidealizedastructureintoacompositemodel
andhaveconfidencethatthefinalFEAresultswillvalidate.Weviewthisasamultistep
processwillalittlebitofthinkingwillsavealotofhardwork.Startingwithsomebasicswell
carryanexampleanalysisforwardtowardfinalvalidation.

1.1 BASICCOMPOSITEPRINCIPLES

1.2 BUILDINGCOMPOSITESOLIDANDSANDWICHLAMINATES

1.3 IDEALIZATIONOFTHESTRUCTUREINTOACOMPOSITEMODEL

1.4 VERIFICATION

1.5 VALIDATION

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2. BASICCOMPOSITEPRINCIPLES
Itisallaboutthefiberssincethematrixcanbeconsideredjustabinderthatholdsthings
togetherwhilethefibersareloaded.Onewaytothinkaboutitisthatthefibers,whether
glassorcarbon,areatleast20xstifferthantheplasticmatrix.

2.1 FIRSTMECHANICS
Prettymuchalltheloadgoesthroughthefiber
Carrycapacityisdeterminedbytheamountoffibervolumefractionalignedtotheload
Carbonfibersbreakat~1%strainwhileglassfibersbreakat~1.5%strain

Althoughstressviewsfeelcomfortable,lookingatthestrainisoftenquiteuseful

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2.2 WHATHAPPENSINTHEPLASTIC?
Itisthetransverseandnormalloadsthattearapartcomposites.Takeanotethattheplastic
strainis4xthatofthehomogenousplastic.Thus,foryourcompositelaminateof090plies,a
1%straindownthe0fiberdirectionisa4%strainfortheplasticinthe90ply.

AllPlastic 50%FVF

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2.3 INAREALCOMPOSITE
Ifwekeepthingssimpleandsaythatthefiberfailsat1%andtheplasticat4%,wecansee
thatmoreorless,FRPsfailatthefiberbreakingpointwiththematrixfightingforpole
positionintheracetofailure.

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2.4 ALTHOUGHTHEFIBERCONTROLS,THEMATRIXRULES
Onceyoustarttolosethebondbetweenthefibersandthematrix,failureofthecomposite
willoccuratanacceleratedrate.
Withagoodbond,loadissharedbetweenthefiberandmatrix.

Bonded UnBonded Bonded UnBonded

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2.5 WHATABOUTINTERLAMINARSTRESSES?
Asshown,thematrixtransfersshearandanyloadcarryingcapacityhastobealignedwiththe
fiber(viz.20xstifferthanthematrix).Inclassicallaminatetheory(CLT){anotherTLA}asused
inplateFEA,thetheoryisvalidforthinlaminateswherebendingandinplaneloading
dominate.Theinterlaminarshearstressorstrainisthencalculatedbasedoninplanestrains
plustheuserdefinedoutofplaneshearmodulus.
Attheendoftheday,itissortofraretohaveinterlaminarfailureunlesstheplasticisbador
somethingwentamissinthemanufacturingprocesssinceitisthefibersthatcontrolthe
failureprocess.

2.6 COMPOSITEFAILURETHEORIES
Ourpreferenceistoknowyourmaterial(nextsection),doyourknockdownandthenlookat
principalstressorprincipalstrain.Welikefirstprinciples(structuresfailundertensileor
buckleiftheyareslender)andcompositesfailwithasnap,crackleandpop.Theyarenotlike
metalswherewehave20+%plasticstrainstofailurebutmorelike1%strain(noplastic)to
failure;thinkbrittlecarbonorglassfibers.Althoughcompositescanhavegracefulandenergy
absorbingpostfailurebehavior,theirinitialfailureisnoticeable.

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2.7 LEARNORGANICALLY
Werecommendsomeonenewtocompositemodelinggothroughthefollowingsteps

2.7.1 UNIDIRECTIONALCOMPOSITEMODEL
o Buildasimplysupportedbeammodelusingplateelements
o Makeanisotropicmaterialwheretheelasticmodulusisbasedontheruleofmixtures
foryourfiberandmatrix
o Runthemodelandcheckagainsthandcalc
o Changematerialmodelto2Dorthotropicandinputvalues,alignmaterialdirection
o Youshouldgetthesamevaluesaswiththeisotropicmaterial

2.7.2 LAMINATECOMPOSITEMODEL
Buildatwoplylaminatemodelwitheachplythicknessofthepreviousmodel.The2D
materialmodelwillbethesame
Runanalysisandtheresultsshouldbethesame
Rotateonelayer,observeuniquebehavior
Addoneadditionallayer(threeplys)andchangethethicknessofeachplyto1/3of
originalmodel.Alignalllayersandverifythesameresultsasinunidirectionalmodel
Rotatemiddlelayer90degreesandfinallyrotatemiddlelayer45degrees

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3. B
BUILDING
GCOMPOSSITESOLIDANDSA
ANDWICH
HLAMINA
ATES
Straaightupcoompositem models,wh henitisjusstasolidlaaminateor
rjustasandwichisnoobigdeal
anddthereare eatonoftuutorials,w
whitepaperss,blogs,Yo ouTubeinfformationavailable.Inthis
typeoftalk,thereisnoneedtogo ooversetttingupyou urmateriallangleortthesimpletutorial.
Forrstuffliketthat,wehaaveresourrcesatApp pliedCAx.co om.Butwhhatwecan ntalkaboutishow
youuwouldmaakeasolidorsandwiichlaminattefrommaanufactureersdata.

3
3.1 MA
ATERIALM
MODELING
GOFACO
OMPOSITEEPLY

o RuleofM
Mixtures(C
ChamisMo
odel)

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o Workingfromman
nufacturersdata
o Treattwopliesaso
oneply
o Unidirecctionaldattaiscommonorhand
d
crank

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3
3.2 WH
HATDOW
WEDO?
Weearenotne
ecessarilyggoodrolemodelssin
nceweareoftennot involvedin nthedesiggnof
stru
uctureswoorkbutbro willmakeiitthroughvalidation.Thusour
oughtintoverifythattadesignw
modelingrequirementsarediffere ent.

pitsimpleandmodel
Wekeep
enappropriatemodel
andwhe
combine
edpliesaso
oneply
Welikettoincludeprogressivve
plyfailurreandemp
ployFEA
elementdeathaso ourpass/faail
criterion
Put10coompositeeexpertsinaa
roomandyoullgeet10waysof
certifyinggacompositetopaass
WideFailureeExerciseis
WorldW
20%diffeerencebettweenFEA
A
andTestt

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3.3 MATERIALKNOCKDOWNSANDHOLES
Thisisagoodquestionanddependsonyourlevelofriskmanagement.Workingfromfirst
ordermaterialdata(i.e.,ChamisRuleofMixtures)orfrommanufacturesdata,itisdifficultto
provideguidancewithouttesting.Onesuggestionthatwehaveheardistoknockdownall
firstorderdataby3x.Thishassomeengineeringguidanceifoneconsidersthatastress
concentrationof3xexistsaroundallholesinplates(isotropicmaterial).
Wefinditillustrativetojustbuildsimplemodelsanddoyourownexploration

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3.4 SANDWICHLAMINATES
Thereisnotrickinmodelingastraightupsandwichbuthowyouhandlethetransitioncanbe
quiteinteresting.

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3
3.5 WH
HENINDO
OUBTBUILLDSOMESIMPLEFFEAMODEELS
Oneeofthejoyysofsimullationisthatitcanbe
equalitativverathertthansubjecctive.

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4. IDEALIZATIONOFTHESTRUCTUREINTOACOMPOSITEMODEL

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4
4.1 STR
RUCTURED
DFEAMO
ODEL(CLEANMESH
H=CLEAN
NSTRESSES)

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4.2 3DSTRUCTUREIDEALIZATION(SANDWICHASLAMINATE+CORE)
Idealizationaroundtransitionsisnotdirectbutablendofexploratorymodels,inspectionand
crossedfingers

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4
4.3 BOLTEDCON
NNECTION
NS
Giventhatonnceaboltggoesintosh
hear,failurrecantbeefallbehin d,westrivvetopreloaadhighly
loaddedbolted
dconnectio onsandifw
wehavedo oubtsabou utslippageewerecom mmendinserts.Of
cou
urseweareetalkingabboutsolidlaminates..Whatabo outsandwi chcompossites?Insert
awaaythebigggerthebe etter.Then
nwhatabo outcreep,itisplast ic?Well,thatiswhhyyou
havveaFEAmodeltoputnumbersstoyourfe ears.

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5. VERIFICATION(GOTTATEST)
Ifyoucanttestyour
laminates,oneoftenis
requiredtouseahigh
knockdownfactor,say3x.
AlthoughtheASTMtest
proceduresareclearabout
FourPointspanto
thicknessratios,notall
laboratoriesareuptodate
onreadingthe
specifications

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Understandingtestdatasometimesrequiresabitsleuthing.Atfirstwecouldntfigureout
whyournicehandcalcswerentmatchingthetestdata.

FourPointBendFailureofSandwichComposite

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Togetitright,requiredmodelingmorestuffthanwelikedtoo.Attheendofthiseffortafter
fiddlingaroundwith2Dshelllaminatemodel,wetooktheplungeandwentfull3Dskin
laminatewithhexelementsolidcore.Thecorrelationwasaboveaverage(>10%).

FoamMaterialModel TheJoyofValidation

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5.1 SOMETIMESONEHASTOTHINKLIKETHETEST
Itwasallaboutlocalizeddeformationaroundtheanvilsandonemightsaythatthetestdidnt
reallymeasurethestrengthofthesandwichbuthowtestingcanleadtowronganswers.

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6. V
VALIDATIO
ON
Alth
houghitwwouldbenicetosaythatthrougghexpertizzeandcareefulmodelingproced dures,
valiidationcan
nbeassure harshtaskmaster.O urcriticalttestloadw
ed,realityiisoftenah wasarapid
deccompressio onevent.

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6
6.1 TESSTDATACANBEDIFFFICULT

Firstmod
delhadisssues
ManufaccturingDisscoveries
MechanicalClosurres
LessonsLLearned
AModelisaMode
el

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6.2 THENYOUHAVEREALVALIDATION

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7. COMPOSITESIMULATIONCHECKLIST
o Doyourhandcalcsandthinkaboutfibervolumefractionalignmenttoload
o Understandthatitgetsknockeddowntohandledefectsandsmallholesthatadesigner
mightmissinvestigateandquestiontheknockdownfactors
o Makeyourfirstmodelisotropicandworkthroughtheloadlinesandforasandwich
structure,dontforgetyoucanstilluseaplatemodelwithsometricks(seeComposite
Handbook)
o CheckyourmanufacturersdataandbuildaFEAtestcouponoftheirmaterial
o Iftheprojecthasvalue,getindependentlaboratorytestingofthesamples
o BuildyourFEAmodelwithsimplicityandminimumplies(i.e.,mergepliesofidentical
makeup)
o Socializedandtalktootherengineersthatmayhavedonesimilarprojects
o Realizethatifyouarewithin15%ofvalidationthatyouareasuperstar

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8. REFERENCESFORFEMAPUSERS
SeeAppliedCAxfortutorialsandreferencematerial

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