composite analysis software

[smashy1985]

Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum and I hope not to ask you a question already discussed earlier. I am a mechanical engineering student, but I have always been passionate about nautical. for my personal delight I dedicate myself to the design and structural project of sailing boats. In relation to this I would like to deepen the question of weight optimization through the analysis of the finite elements of the hull and its composite structures (usually multiaxial in glass and resin ). to be honest, being a few exams from the graduation I would like to make this topic a topic for a thesis, always that I can find an interested speaker.
being me fasting of fem software, I would like some advice from those who are more experienced than me, about the software best suited to the simulations of composites, and among them, the most intuitive ones to use for a person with first weapons and self-taught.
if it can be useful for your advice I can tell you that I have a basic knowledge of modeling with solidworks.

thanks for the attention!

 

[Onda]

Surely you could orientate to femap as prepost and nastran as a solutor.
I would say that femap is the most intuitive prepost, while nastran the best solutor for composites.
wave.

 

[Vaglio]

I would also be interested in entering the world of fem analysis on composites. but with plate and femap is there a possibility to do things similar to the preppost composite ansys package?
like analysis of drapery and layer provisions?

because I was initially interested in the package of ansys, but still haven't managed to figure out whether the composite perppost is a piece apart from buying separately from ansys or whether it's part of the classic multiphisics... I had to deal from time to time with the university with versions 12 and 13 but I never found the start command of the preppost composite, although it seems that it is integrated into the workbench from 12.1.5...

Can you tell me something?

 

[PierArg]

I would also be interested in entering the world of fem analysis on composites. but with plate and femap is there a possibility to do things similar to the preppost composite ansys package?
like analysis of drapery and layer provisions?

because I was initially interested in the package of ansys, but still haven't managed to figure out whether the composite perppost is a piece apart from buying separately from ansys or whether it's part of the classic multiphisics... I had to deal from time to time with the university with versions 12 and 13 but I never found the start command of the preppost composite, although it seems that it is integrated into the workbench from 12.1.5...

Can you tell me something?

Hi.
I press that I do not make a fem simulation on composites for at least 4/5 years :biggrin:
because you use proes, why don't you enrich the cad with pro-mechanica?
I remember that pro-mechanica was dignified and comparing the results with nastran were very similar.

 

[Vaglio]

but pro-mechanical allows the analysis of composites in a quite in-depth manner?
because something I saw, but it seemed very similar to ansys' workbench with little development. . .
do you have functions dedicated to the composite?
because I knew that there existed laminate tool for proe, that in the area it sells smartcae at prices it seems not really prohibitive, more than other products ifirehole always dedicated to the composite. . .

Hi.
Titian.

 

[PierArg]

but pro-mechanical allows the analysis of composites in a quite in-depth manner?
because something I saw, but it seemed very similar to ansys' workbench with little development. . .
do you have functions dedicated to the composite?
because I knew that there existed laminate tool for proe, that in the area it sells smartcae at prices it seems not really prohibitive, more than other products ifirehole always dedicated to the composite. . .

Hi.
Titian.

I had done a laminate analysis and found myself well.
if I'm not mistaken, the orthotropic material was set and all the different combinations of elasticity modes and polka dot coefficients were activated.
there was also something that referred to the concept of lamina and laminate.

was certainly not laminated tool but was pro-mechanica

 

[Paol]

during my thesis I had done an analysis with solidworks and ansys. the first gave good results in terms of travel, but unconvincing interpolations in terms of efforts. with the second I validated the measurements of the elastic modules of the lamines, performed in the laboratory and the fitting was very good. However, applying everything to complex geometries caused some abnormalities in terms of shifting. In any case, this was a small part of the thesis, so I didn't have a way to get into it with ansys.
if you decide to focus only on composites I recommend:
1) characterize the composite blades from which to obtain all elastic constants, the polka dot module, the interlaminating cutting resistance (possibly contacting the supplier for a collaboration)
2) apply to your hull/shaft/other element of the boat the matrix of constants so as to compute to your interlaminary efforts and in the individual lamines.
the big problem in ansys is to find a simple method to map the directionality of the matrix of the constant orthotropics. with a little patience, passion and study would come out a nice thesis.

 

[Onda]

I would also be interested in entering the world of fem analysis on composites. but with plate and femap is there a possibility to do things similar to the preppost composite ansys package?
like analysis of drapery and layer provisions?

because I was initially interested in the package of ansys, but still haven't managed to figure out whether the composite perppost is a piece apart from buying separately from ansys or whether it's part of the classic multiphisics... I had to deal from time to time with the university with versions 12 and 13 but I never found the start command of the preppost composite, although it seems that it is integrated into the workbench from 12.1.5...

Can you tell me something?

there are software, normally additional modules, which allow to model plys.
Patran has the laminate modeler module. femap has modules that can be purchased separately.
for example those produced by http://www.vistagy.com/index.aspx o da http://www.anaglyph.co.uk/lt.htmHowever we talk about modules that have a normally high cost and which are not always used by those who work with composites.
you succeed in facts, with patran or femap, to study well composites without these modules.
With ansys, the speech is a little different. establishing ply orientation without additional modules is more difficult.
the big advantage of these modules is because we are extrapolated from doing so many different properties according to the reinforcement skins they put, but we work directly by defining the geometry of the skins and then the various properties are created automatically.
Moreover, by laminating a skin on a curved surface, the properties are created with the correct angle according to how the skin adapts to the surface.
Finally, the geometries of the skin can be extrapolated and therefore produced.
On the other hand, at least laminate modeller of Patran who is the only one I know, is extremely complicated and requires a huge rigour in use. Moreover, changing the elements is not easy and it is necessary to reassociate all the skins.
I don't know the other products that I can't judge, but I repeat, even if an excellent aid is not indispensable.
wave