Composite Shells

Contents

• Overview of Composite Shells
  

• Why Composites?
  

• Composite Laminate as an Orthotropic Material
  

  A composite laminate is a special orthropic material that is modeled as a single surface with several layers of orthotropic materials. A cross-ply carbon fiber-reinforced polymer is an example of a composite laminate with orthotropic material properties for each ply. A rock is an example of an orthotropic material that does not qualify as a composite.

• Defining Composite Shells
  

• Ply Angle
  

• Relative Ply Angles
  

  You can define ply angles for a stack relative to the first ply.

• Surface Mapping
  

  For a composite shell, by default, the surface mapping technique determines the 0° reference shown by the red arrow. The surface mapping option is based on the UV coordinates.

• Planar Mapping
  

  You use the planar mapping option to project a common 0º reference to a group of faces or surface bodies.

• Composite Stack Information
  

  You can save the composite stack information in files with .csv or .txt extensions. You can then load the stack information for future use.

• Offsets for Composites
  

• Stacking Sequence of Plies
  

• Stress Analysis for Composite Shells
  

• Coupling Behavior in Composites
  

• Composite Failure Criteria
  

• Design Study with Composite Shells
  

  When working with composite materials, you may want to design the optimal layup for a specific application to minimize expenses. For example, you might want to find the optimal thicknesses and ply orientations of a composite hull that result in minimal deflection. In general, layup optimization of composites can be time consuming because you can define several variables with different combinations of ply thicknesses and ply orientations.