Modeling Layered Composites Efficiently

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Cost: Free

Physics based simulation of structures and components made from composite materials present additional challenges when compared with conventional materials like metals. Composite materials require the definition of a large number of items such as:

This is coupled with a lower level of methodology validation compared with metal structures. The fact is that today's products are becoming ever more complex with load cases being imported from sources such as computational fluid dynamics. There is also often a need to consider thermal and electrical effects on the material.

For the engineer working on composite material simulation projects, a significant amount of time and effort is spent on problem set up and definition, rather than on the analysis and interpretation of results. The result is that design iterations and decisions are not made as efficiently as they could be.

In this seminar, we will lead a technical discussion of new modeling and design techniques for composite structures. We will introduce and demonstrate a new workflow process for physics-based simulation of composite materials that offers the engineer a solution to many of the simulation process bottlenecks. This new workflow for composites modeling can be integrated within a multiphysics environment for seamless load transfer and can be coupled with parametric analyses for rapid design space exploration and design optimization. Finally, some of the future challenges and opportunities in this field will be discussed.