CompositePro Users Guide

Helius:CompositePro Users Guide

Helius:CompositeProTM

Version 4.2

Copyright 2013, Firehole Technologies, Inc.

Helius:CompositePro v4.2 Users Guide 2

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 7

2 GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE ............................................................................................................ 8

2.1 TOOLBAR OPTIONS .................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 MATERIAL DATA FILE TREE ...................................................................................................... 10

3 FILE MODULE ........................................................................................................................................ 13

4 NEW ITEM MODULE ............................................................................................................................. 17

4.1 CREATING A NEW FIBER, MATRIX, CORE AND LAMINA .................................................................. 20 4.2 CALCULATING NEW LAMINA PROPERTIES FROM MICROMECHANICS ................................................ 23 4.3 CREATING A NEW THICKNESS/ANGLE TEMPLATE .......................................................................... 25 4.4 CREATING A NEW LAMINATE ..................................................................................................... 27

5 LAMINATE MODULE ............................................................................................................................ 31

5.1 LAMINATE TAB ....................................................................................................................... 33 5.2 LAMINATE PROPERTIES............................................................................................................. 34 5.3 STRESS-STRAIN AND STRENGTH ANALYSIS .................................................................................. 41 5.4 FIRST PLY FAILURE SURVEY ...................................................................................................... 51 5.5 FAILURE ENVELOPE ................................................................................................................. 53

6 PLATE MODULE..................................................................................................................................... 56

6.1 LAMINATE TAB ....................................................................................................................... 58 6.2 PLATE GEOMETRY TAB............................................................................................................. 59 6.3 PLATE BENDING ...................................................................................................................... 60 6.4 PLATE STABILITY .................................................................................................................... 62 6.5 PLATE VIBRATION ................................................................................................................... 64

7 SANDWICH MODULE ............................................................................................................................ 66

7.1 LAMINATE TAB ....................................................................................................................... 68 7.2 SANDWICH GEOMETRY TAB ...................................................................................................... 69 7.3 SANDWICH BEAM BENDING ....................................................................................................... 70 7.4 SANDWICH PANEL BENDING ...................................................................................................... 73 7.5 SANDWICH STABILITY .............................................................................................................. 74

8 TUBE/BEAM MODULE .......................................................................................................................... 77

8.1 LAMINATE TAB ....................................................................................................................... 79 8.2 TUBE GEOMETRY TAB .............................................................................................................. 80 8.3 TUBE/BEAM BENDING .............................................................................................................. 81 8.4 TUBE/BEAM TORSION ............................................................................................................... 83 8.5 TUBE/BEAM VIBRATION ........................................................................................................... 85 8.6 TUBE/BEAM CYLINDER STABILITY ............................................................................................. 87 8.7 TUBE/BEAM COLUMN STABILITY ............................................................................................... 90 8.8 TUBE/BEAM PRESSURE VESSEL.................................................................................................. 92

9 UTILITIES MODULE .............................................................................................................................. 94

9.1 UTILITIES VF WF CONVERTER ................................................................................................. 95 9.2 UTILITIES WINDING CALCULATOR .............................................................................................. 96 9.3 UTILITIES FABRIC THICKNESS CALCULATOR ................................................................................ 99 9.4 ROVING CONVERTER .............................................................................................................. 100 9.5 UTILITIES RADIUS OF CURVATURE CALCULATOR........................................................................ 102 9.6 UTILITIES LAMINATE SURVEY ................................................................................................. 104


9.7 FABRIC BUILDER ................................................................................................................... 106 9.8 OPTIMIZE LAMINA FOR MCT ................................................................................................... 115 9.9 EXPORT MATERIAL ................................................................................................................ 117

10 WINDOW AND HELP MODULES ....................................................................................................... 120

10.1 WINDOW MODULE ................................................................................................................. 120 10.2 HELP MODULE ...................................................................................................................... 120

APPENDIX A: HELIUS:COMPOSITEPRO LICENSING ........................................................................... 123

APPENDIX B: REFERENCES FOR MATERIALS INCLUDED WITH HELIUS:COMPOSITEPRO ..... 126

APPENDIX C: AVAILABLE FAILURE CRITERIA FOR COMPOSITE MATERIALS ........................... 133

FAILURE MODE .................................................................................................................................. 144

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................. 145

Table of Figures FIGURE 2-1: HELIUS:COMPOSITEPRO GUI AT START-UP ............................................................................................... 8 FIGURE 2-2: MATERIAL DATA FILE TREE, HIGHLIGHTING THE MATRICES BRANCH ........................................................ 10 FIGURE 2-3: FILE TREE, NEW MATERIAL OPTION ....................................................................................................... 11 FIGURE 2-4: FILE TREE, EDIT/DELETE MATERIAL OPTION .......................................................................................... 12 FIGURE 2-5: FILE TREE, NEW FROM MICRO-MECHANICS AND LAMINATE ENGINEERING PROPS FEATURES ........................ 12 FIGURE 3-1: CREATING A NEW MATERIAL LIBRARY FOLDER ...................................................................................... 13 FIGURE 3-2: IMPORT FILE/DIRECTORY WINDOW ........................................................................................................ 14 FIGURE 3-3: PREFERENCES USER OPTIONS TAB ......................................................................................................... 14 FIGURE 3-4: PREFERENCES LICENSING TAB ............................................................................................................... 16 FIGURE 4-1: PRINCIPAL LAMINA COORDINATE SYSTEM ............................................................................................... 18 FIGURE 4-2: A) LAMINATE COORDINATE SYSTEM, B) CYLINDRICAL LAMINATE TUBE COORDINATE SYSTEM .................... 19 FIGURE 4-3: (A) NEW MATRIX WINDOW, (B) NEW LAMINA WINDOW ............................................................................ 20 FIGURE 4-4: THE CALCULATE LAMINA PROPERTIES WINDOW ...................................................................................... 23 FIGURE 4-5: RESULTS TAB OF THE CALCULATE LAMINA PROPERTIES WINDOW ............................................................... 24 FIGURE 4-6: THICKNESS/ANGLE TEMPLATE WINDOW ................................................................................................. 25 FIGURE 4-7: NEW LAMINATE WINDOW, SHOWN BEFORE THE USER HAS ADDED ANY PLIES ............................................... 27 FIGURE 4-8: THE NEW LAMINATE WINDOW, SHOWING PLIES THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE LAMINATE.......................... 28 FIGURE 4-9: PLY ORDER AND THE SPECIFIC LOCATION TOP, MIDDLE, AND BOTTOM WITHIN EACH PLY OF A LAMINATE

RELATIVE TO THE ASSUMED GLOBAL Z DIRECTION OF THE LAMINATE ............................................................................ 29 FIGURE 4-10: THICKNESS/ANGLE MANAGER WINDOW ................................................................................................ 30 FIGURE 5-1: WINDOWS AVAILABLE UNDER LAMINATE DROP-DOWN MENU ..................................................................... 31 FIGURE 5-2: THE LAMINATE TAB, AS IT APPEARS IN THE LAMINATE PROPERTIES WINDOW............................................... 33 FIGURE 5-3: Q-BAR TAB BEFORE AND AFTER RESULTS ARE CALCULATED FOR A LAMINATE ............................................. 34 FIGURE 5-4: COMPUTED RESULTS SHOWN IN A) THE ABD MATRICES TAB AND B) THE ABD INVERSE MATRICES TAB OF THE

ABD /ABD INVERSE WINDOW. ............................................................................................................................. 36 FIGURE 5-5: LAMINATE ENGINEERING PROPERTIES WINDOW ...................................................................................... 37 FIGURE 5-6: VISUALIZATION OF THE FREE THERMAL DEFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE VARIOUS LAMINATE CTES ... 40 FIGURE 5-7: THE LAMINATE LOADS TAB, AS IT APPEARS IN THE STRESS-STRAIN AND STRENGTH ANALYSIS WINDOW .......... 41 FIGURE 5-8: LAMINATE IN-PLANE LOADS AND LAMINATE BENDING LOADS .................................................................. 42 FIGURE 5-9: LAMINATE GLOBAL/LOCAL STRESS/STRAIN TAB ..................................................................................... 43 FIGURE 5-10: MID-PLAIN STRAINS/CURVATURES TAB ................................................................................................ 44 FIGURE 5-11: THE CALCULATE TAB, WITHIN THE FIRST PLY FAILURE WINDOW.............................................................. 46 FIGURE 5-12: PROGRESSIVE FAILURE FEATURE WITHIN LAMINATE DROP-DOWN MENU. ................................................... 47 FIGURE 5-13: PROGRESSIVE FAILURE RESULTS .......................................................................................................... 49 FIGURE 5-14: PROGRESSIVE FAILURE WITH REMOVE NON FAILS FILTER INVOKED .......................................................... 50 FIGURE 5-15: STRESS-STRAIN PLOT OF PROGRESSIVE FAILURE RESULTS ........................................................................ 50 FIGURE 5-16: THE CALCULATE TAB, WITHIN THE FIRST PLY FAILURE SURVEY WINDOW ................................................. 52 FIGURE 5-17: PLOTTED RESULTS OF FIRST PLY FAILURE SURVEY ................................................................................. 52


FIGURE 5-18: THE CALCULATE TAB, WITHIN THE FAILURE ENVELOPE WINDOW ............................................................. 53 FIGURE 5-19: FAILURE ENVELOPE PLOTTED RESULTS ................................................................................................. 55 FIGURE 6-1: GEOMETRY, POSITION AND ORIENTATION OF A LAMINATED PLATE .............................................................. 56 FIGURE 6-2: THE LAMINATE TAB, AS IT APPEARS IN THE PLATE BENDING WINDOW ........................................................ 58 FIGURE 6-3: THE PLATE GEOMETRY TAB, AS IT APPEARS IN THE PLATE BENDING WINDOW ............................................. 59 FIGURE 6-4: THE CALCULATE TAB, AS IT APPEARS IN THE PLATE BENDING WINDOW ...................................................... 60 FIGURE 6-5: LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR PLATE BENDING ANALYSIS ....................................................... 61 FIGURE 6-6: PLATE STABILITY CALCULATE TAB ........................................................................................................ 62 FIGURE 6-7: LOADS AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR PLATE STABILITY ANALYSIS ...................................................... 63 FIGURE 6-8: THE CALCULATE TAB, AS SEEN IN THE PLATE VIBRATION WINDOW ............................................................ 64 FIGURE 6-9: BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR PLATE VIBRATION ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 65 FIGURE 7-1: GEOMETRY, POSITION AND ORIENTATION OF A LAMINATED SANDWICH PLATE .............................................. 66 FIGURE 7-2: THE LAMINATE TAB, AS IT APPEARS IN THE SANDWICH BEAM BENDING WINDOW ........................................ 68 FIGURE 7-3: SANDWICH GEOMETRY TAB, AS IT APPEARS IN THE SANDWICH BEAM BENDING WINDOW ............................. 69 FIGURE 7-4: THE CALCULATE TAB, AS SEEN IN THE SANDWICH BEAM BENDING WINDOW ............................................... 70 FIGURE 7-5: LOAD TYPES AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR SANDWICH BEAM BENDING ............................................... 72 FIGURE 7-6: THE CALCULATE TAB IN THE SANDWICH PANEL BENDING WINDOW ........................................................... 73 FIGURE 7-7: THE CALCULATE TAB OF THE SANDWICH STABILITY WINDOW ................................................................... 74 FIGURE 7-8: BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR SANDWICH STABILITY ANALYSIS ................................................................. 76 FIGURE 8-1: THE LAMINATE TAB, AS SEEN IN THE TUBE/BEAM BENDING WINDOW ......................................................... 79 FIGURE 8-2: THE TUBE GEOMETRY TAB, AS SEEN IN THE TUBE/BEAM BENDING WINDOW ............................................... 80 FIGURE 8-3: TUBE BEAM BENDING CALCULATE WINDOW .......................................................................................... 81 FIGURE 8-4: TUBE/BEAM TORSION CALCULATE WINDOW ........................................................................................... 83 FIGURE 8-5: TUBE/BEAM VIBRATION CALCULATE WINDOW ....................................................................................... 85 FIGURE 8-6: TUBE/BEAM CYLINDER STABILITY CALCULATE WINDOW ......................................................................... 87 FIGURE 8-7: COLUMN STABILITY CALCULATE TAB .................................................................................................... 90 FIGURE 8-8: THIN WALL PRESSURE VESSEL CALCULATE TAB ..................................................................................... 92 FIGURE 9-1: VF WF CONVERTER WINDOW ............................................................................................................. 95 FIGURE 9-2: FILAMENT WINDING LAYUP CALCULATOR .............................................................................................. 96 FIGURE 9-3: FABRIC THICKNESS CALCULATOR .......................................................................................................... 99 FIGURE 9-4: ROVING CONVERTER .......................................................................................................................... 100 FIGURE 9-5: RADIUS OF CURVATURE CALCULATOR ................................................................................................. 102 FIGURE 9-6: RADIUS OF CURVATURE CALCULATE TAB ............................................................................................. 103 FIGURE 9-7: LAMINATE SURVEY WINDOW .............................................................................................................. 104 FIGURE 9-8: LAMINATE SURVEY RESULTS WINDOW ................................................................................................ 105 FIGURE 9-9: FABRIC BUILDER FABRIC TYPE SELECTION ............................................................................................. 106 FIGURE 9-10: EXAMPLE OF A RANDOM CONTINUOUS MAT LAYUP ................................................................................ 106 FIGURE 9-11: FABRIC BUILDER RANDOM MAT PAGE 2: MICROMECHANICS ................................................................... 107 FIGURE 9-12: FABRIC BUILDER RANDOM MAT PAGE 3: CREATE FABRIC ....................................................................... 108 FIGURE 9-13: FABRIC BUILDER RANDOM MAT PAGE 3A: LAMINA SELECTION ............................................................... 108 FIGURE 9-14: FABRIC BUILDER RANDOM MAT PAGE 4: FAILURE STRENGTH CRITERIA ................................................... 109 FIGURE 9-15: FABRIC BUILDER RANDOM MAT PAGE 5: FABRIC STRENGTHS ................................................................. 109 FIGURE 9-16: FABRIC BUILDER RANDOM MAT PAGE 10: FABRIC NAME ........................................................................ 110 FIGURE 9-17: FABRIC BUILDER RANDOM MAT PAGE 11: CREATE LAMINATE ................................................................ 111 FIGURE 9-18: EXAMPLE OF A WOVEN FABRIC LAYUP ................................................................................................. 111 FIGURE 9-19: FABRIC BUILDER WOVEN FABRIC PAGE 2: FABRIC ORIENTATION ............................................................. 112 FIGURE 9-20: FABRIC BUILDER WOVEN FABRIC PAGE 3: FIBER VOLUME % .................................................................. 113 FIGURE 9-21: EXAMPLE OF A STITCHED FABRIC LAYUP .............................................................................................. 114 FIGURE 9-22: FABRIC BUILDER STITCHED FABRIC PAGE 2: FABRIC ORIENTATION ......................................................... 114 FIGURE 9-23: OPTIMIZE LAMINA FOR MCT WINDOW ............................................................................................... 115 FIGURE 9-24: EXPORT MATERIAL WINDOW ............................................................................................................ 117 FIGURE 9-25: MATERIAL DEFINITION PREVIEW WINDOW.......................................................................................... 119 FIGURE 10-1: HELIUS:COMPOSITEPRO REGISTRATION WINDOW ................................................................................ 121


List of Symbols

Symbol as it

Appears in

Program Description English Units SI Units

A [A] extensional stiffness matrix for CLT lb/in lb/in

A Inverse [A] inverse extensional stiffness matrix for CLT in/lb m/N

B [B] coupling stiffness matrix for CLT lb N

B Inverse [B] inverse coupling stiffness matrix for CLT 1/lb 1/N

b (subscript)

C

Denotes bending

Distance to extreme fiber from neutral axis

in

m

c (subscript) Denotes core material

CS Area Cross sectional area in2 m2

CTcr Critical torque factor

CTE Coefficient of thermal expansion in/in/F m/m/C

CME Coefficient of moisture expansion in/in/%moisture m/m/%moisture

dCell Honeycomb core cell diameter in m

D [D] bending stiffness matrix for CLT lb-in N-m

D Inverse [D] inverse bending stiffness matrix for CLT 1/(lb-in) 1/(N-m)

DEN Density lb/in3 g/m3

DENc Density of the core (not the density of the material the

core is made from)

lb/in3 g/m3

+e, +eps Tensile strain in/in m/m

-e, -eps Compression strain in/in m/m

E Youngs modulus lb/in2 Pa

Ec Compressive modulus of a core material lb/in2 Pa

End Area End area in2 m2

f (subscript) Denotes fiber or face sheet for sandwich plates

G Shear modulus lb/in2 Pa

gage Honeycomb core cell wall thickness in m

gam Shear strain in/in m/m

GcL Core shear modulus in a sandwich plate, x-direction lb/in2 Pa

GcW Core shear modulus in a sandwich plate, y-direction lb/in2 Pa

I Area moment of inertia of a beam cross section in4 m4

J Polar moment of inertia of a beam/tube cross section

K Thermal Conductivity Btu/(hr-ft-F) W/(m-K)

k (subscript) Denotes curvature

L Plate length in the X-direction, Beam length. in m

m (subscript) Denotes matrix


Symbol as it

Appears in

Program Description English Units SI Units %m Percent moisture content % %

N Resultant plate load lb/in N/m

NU Poissons ratio

P Concentrated point load lb N

p Uniform distributed load lb/in2 Pa

+S Tensile strength lb/in2 Pa

-S Compression strength lb/in2 Pa

T Thickness of face sheets or core material in m

W Plate width in the Y-direction in m

W Point load on a beam lb N

w Distributed load on a beam lb/in N/m

X X-direction of coordinate system

x (subscript) X-direction

Y Y-direction of coordinate system

y (subscript) Y-direction

1 (subscript) Lamina 1-direction (i.e. fiber direction)

11 (subscript) Lamina 1-direction (i.e. fiber direction)

2 (subscript) Lamina 2-direction (i.e. transverse to fiber direction)

22 (subscript) Lamina 2-direction (i.e. transverse to fiber direction)

12 (subscript) Lamina 12 shear direction (i.e. in plane direction), or for

NU12 denotes deflection in 2-direction due to load in 1-

direction

21 (subscript) For NU21 denotes deflection in 1-direction due to load in

2-direction


1 Introduction Helius:CompositePro

TM presents version 4.2 of the popular CompositePro design and analysis software

for fiber-reinforced composite materials, laminates and structures. Helius:CompositePro provides the user

with a single graphical user interface that permits fast easy access to a multitude of composite analysis tools that are based on Classical Laminate Theory (CLT) and micromechanics. Helius:CompositePros vast arsenal of composite analysis tools bridges the gap between engineering hand calculations and full-

scale finite element analysis, providing analysts and designers with instantly-available, detailed

information on the behavior of composite materials and composite laminates. Helius:CompositePro is simple and intuitive to use, allowing the user to interactively explore the many different what-if scenarios

that constitute a large part of the design and analysis process. Helius:CompositePro will quickly become

the most valuable tool in your composites toolbox.

Helius:CompositePro delivers fast, accurate solutions for bending, vibration and buckling of laminated

plates, sandwich panels, laminated tubes and laminated beams. In addition, Helius:CompositePro

computes an extensive array of basic laminate response data such as laminate stiffness and compliance matrices, equivalent engineering properties, laminate mid-plane strains and curvatures, ply stresses, ply

strains, laminate strengths, progressive failure responses, failure envelopes, and much more. At the ply

level, Helius:CompositePros micromechanics module can be used to predict the response of the composite material based on known properties of the fiber and matrix materials.

In addition to retaining all the functionality that was present in CompositePro 3.0, the new Helius:CompositePro provides the user with:

a re-designed graphical user interface, expanded platform support, advanced plotting, printing and results-exporting features, expanded list of failure criteria (including Hashin and Puck), expanded failure prediction functionality.

CompositePro comes with an extensive material database of pre-characterized composite materials that

can be used to build laminates, in addition to numerous fiber, matrix, and core materials that can be used

to create new composite materials, composite laminates and sandwich panels. Users can easily add new composite materials, constituent materials and laminates to the material database.

This Users Guide provides a step-by-step description of each analysis feature that is contained in Helius:CompositePro.


2 Graphical User Interface The Helius:CompositePro Graphical User Interface (GUI) provides the user with access to nine different

drop-down menus, seven toolbar items, and a material data file tree (see Figure 2-1). The nine drop-down

menus (File, New Item, Laminate, Plate, Sandwich, Tube/Beam, Utilities, Window, and Help) collectively provide access to all of Helius:CompositePros functionality. The seven toolbar items allow quick access to a few select functions that can also be accessed from within the drop-down menus.

Finally, the material data file tree is used to view the list of materials that are currently available in the

Helius:CompositePro material database, or to create, edit or delete materials. The toolbar options and material data file tree are described here in Section 2. Sections 3-10 will describe in detail the

functionality available in the dropdown menus.

Upon opening Helius:CompositePro, a welcome screen appears that provides access to three commonly

used data creation tools. The Micromechanics tool allows the user to create a lamina using a micromechanics tool that takes fiber and matrix data and calculates the resulting lamina properties

(covered in detail in Section 4.2). The New Lamina tool allows the user to create a lamina by entering the orthogonal material properties. The New Laminate tool allows the user to create a composite laminate from stored or previously created laminae (covered in detail in Section 4.4). The user also has

the option of choosing not to show the welcome screen on startup by checking off the Show Welcome Screen box.

Look for this icon to see whats new in Helius:CompositePro. For users familiar with previous versions of CompositePro, clicking on this icon provides a message window that directs the user to the

section in this users guide where they can find more information about the added functionality provided by Helius:CompostiePro.

Figure 2-1: Helius:CompositePro GUI at start-up


2.1 Toolbar Options

The Helius:CompositePro Toolbar is used for quick access to certain functions that can also be found within the drop-down menus. Nine options are available on the toolbar:

New Material Library: Used to create a new Helius:CompositePro material library. New material libraries cannot be saved in the

same folder containing the original Cp2010Data.xml material file.

Import File: Used to import an existing material file into the Helius:CompositePro material database.

Import Directory:

Used to import a folder containing multiple material files into the Helius:CompositePro material database.

Sort File Tree:

Used to sort materials in the material data file tree alphanumerically according to material name.

Preferences:

Used to select the system of units used by

Helius:CompositePro, customize the layout of the Helius:CompositePro GUI, and/or change the

location of the Helius:CompositePro material

database.

Users Guide Used to access the Helius:CompositePro users guide

External Help Used to access up-to-date Helius:CompositePro information from Firehole Composites website

About Helius:CompositePro Used to display the version number for Helius:CompositePro, copyright information and a

hyperlink to Firehole Composites website

Note: When importing individual material data files or entire directories of material data files, the

default import file type is set to Helius:CompositePro. The import file type must be set to CompositePro 3 if the user wishes to import material files that were created in CompositePro 3.


2.2 Material Data File Tree

Helius:CompositePros Material Data File Tree provides quick access to any of the materials that are stored in the Helius:CompositePro material database. See Appendix B for a complete list of the pre-

defined materials that are stored in the Helius:CompositePro material database. Existing materials can be selected, edited or deleted. In addition, new materials can be created and added to the

Helius:CompositePro material database. The material data file tree has six branches as shown in Figure

2-2 The six branches are Thickness/Angle Templates, Fibers, Matrices, Laminas, Cores, and Laminates.

Figure 2-2: Material Data File Tree, Highlighting the Matrices Branch

Viewing Materials: The file tree can be used to quickly view the list of materials that are available in the

Helius:CompositePro material database. Helius:CompositePro comes with a large number of Fiber,

Matrix, Lamina, and Core material types already defined in the Helius:CompositePro material database. The list of individual materials that is available under each type of material can be viewed by clicking the

(+) button located to the left of the material type of interest in the material data file tree. To hide the list

of individual materials that is available under a particular type of material, simply select the minus (-)

button located to the left of the material type in the material data file tree. Figure 2-2 shows the file tree after opening the Matrices branch.


File Tree Options:

There are 5 options that can be used within the material data file tree. These options are accessed by

pointing to a particular branch or file and right-clicking. The five options are:

1) New Used to create a new thickness/angle template, material, or laminate data file that will be added to the Helius:CompositePro material database. When using the New option, the user must explicitly specify all of the parameters needed to define the new thickness/angle

template, material, or laminate. This option can be accessed by right clicking on a particular

branch within the file tree and selecting New. Figure 2-3 shows the New option being

accessed to create a new Fiber material data file.

2) Sort File Tree Used to sort materials displayed within the File Tree in alphanumeric order. Material names that start with numbers will be sorted first in numerical order followed by material names starting with letters in alphabetical order.

Figure 2-3: File Tree, New Material Option

3) Edit Used to edit any of the material data files or thickness/angle templates that appears in the material data file tree. This option can be accessed by right-clicking on a particular material data file or thickness/angle template that appears in the material data file tree and

selecting Edit. Figure 2-4 shows the options that are available after right-clicking on the

Epoxy material data file that appears on the Matrices branch.

4) Delete Used to delete material files from the Helius:CompositePro material database. This option can be accessed by right-clicking on a particular material data file or thickness/angle

template that appears in the material data file tree and selecting Delete (see Figure 2-4).


Figure 2-4: File Tree, Edit/Delete Material Option

5) New From Micro-Mechanics Used to create a new Lamina material by using micro-mechanics to define the lamina properties that result from a particular combination of fiber

and matrix materials that are stored in the Helius:CompositePro material database. This

option can be accessed by right-clicking on the Laminas branch and selecting the option New From Micro-Mechanics (Figure 2-5).

6) Laminate Engineering Props Used to calculate and display the 2D and 3D material properties of a Laminate. This option can be used by right-clicking on a laminate that appears in the Laminates branch and then selecting Laminate Engineering Props (Figure

2-5).

Figure 2-5: File Tree, New From Micro-Mechanics and Laminate Engineering Props features


3 File Module The first drop-down menu that appears at the top of the Helius:CompositePro GUI is the File menu.

Selecting the File menu exposes a list of six options that can be accessed: New Material Library,

Import File, Import Directory, Sort File Tree, Preferences, and Exit. These options collectively provide the user with functionality to import individual material files or an entire directory of material

files into the Helius:CompositePro material database, specify the system of units to be used by

Helius:CompositePro, customize the layout of the Helius:CompositePro GUI, or exit

Helius:CompositePro. Each of the five options is described below.

1) New Material Library is used to create a new Helius:CompositePro material library. New material libraries cannot be saved in the same folder containing the original Cp2010Data.xml material file (this folder is Data upon install). A new folder can be created in the Helius:CompositePro directory to store a new material library as shown in Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1: Creating a New Material Library Folder

2) Import File: Brings up the Import File window (Figure 3-2) where the user can import an individual material file into the Helius:CompositePro material database. Helius:CompositePro recognizes six different types of material data files: fiber files (*.fib), matrix files (*.mat),

lamina files (*.lma), laminate files (*.lmt), thickness/angle templates (*.lay), and core files

(*.cor).


Figure 3-2: Import File/Directory Window

3) Import Directory: Brings up the Import Entire Directory window where the user can import an entire user-specified directory of material files into the Helius:CompositePro material

database.

4) Sort File Tree: Used to sort materials displayed within the File Tree in alphanumeric order. Material names that start with numbers will be sorted first in numerical order followed by

material names starting with letters in alphabetical order. This tool also syncs the File Tree with

the material library, which will add any material files that may otherwise be missing from the File Tree.

5) Preferences: Brings up the Helius:CompositePro Preferences dialog box (Figure 3-3) where the user can specify various user preferences and set licensing options. Each of the features

that can be accessed within the Preferences dialog box is described below.

Figure 3-3: Preferences User Options Tab

As shown in Figure 3-3, there are five options under the User Options Tab:

o Units - Select English or SI units for all data that is displayed in Helius:CompositePro and all calculations performed by Helius:CompositePro.


- SI (Pa) units (N/m/K) strength and stiffness must be entered in Pascals (Pa), density in grams per cubic meter (g/m

3), temperature in degrees Celsius (C), and

geometry in meters (m).

- SI (MPa) units (N/mm/K) strength and stiffness must be entered in mega-pascals (MPa), density in grams per cubic millimeter (g/mm

3), temperature in

degrees Celsius (C), and geometry in millimeters (mm).

- English units (lb/in/F) strength and stiffness are expressed pounds per square inch (lb/in

2), density is expressed in pounds per cubic inch (lb/in

3), temperature is

expressed in degrees Fahrenheit (F), and distance is expressed in inches (in).

o Tree View Docking - Select the location where the Material Data File Tree will appear within the Helius:CompositePro GUI left or right

o Show Welcome Screen - When checked, the Welcome screen (Figure 2-1) will be displayed at each startup.

o Use Most Recent Laminate - When checked, the most recent laminate used in a session will be automatically applied in each laminate analysis module opened. When

unchecked, the user will be required to select a laminate for each analysis initiated using

the Open button.

o Data Source - Used to select a particular Cp2010Data.xml file that will be used to build the Helius:CompositePro material database

Selecting the Licensing tab in the Preferences window will result in the display seen in Figure 3-4.


Figure 3-4: Preferences Licensing Tab

There are four different fields within the Preferences Licensing Tab, as seen in Figure 3-4. Each

field is discussed below however, more information about licensing options can be found in Appendix A.

o License Type - Used to select node-locked licensing (CryptoLicensing) or network licensing (FlexLM)

o Server Scheme - Used to select the network licensing scheme. This information will be provided to the user by Firehole Composites.

o Port Number - Specifies the port number used to check out licenses from the license server. This information will be provided to the user by Firehole Composites.

o Server Name / IP - Specifies the name or IP address of the license server machine.

6) Exit: The final option in the File dropdown will exit the Helius:CompositePro program.


4 New Item Module The second drop-down menu that appears at the top of the Helius:CompositePro GUI is the New Item

menu. The New Item menu provides access to functionality for creating new fiber materials, new matrix

materials, new core materials, new lamina materials, new laminates, or new thickness/angle templates. Each of the seven options that can be selected from the New Item menu is described below.

1) New Fiber: This option is used to create a new fiber material. Selecting this option brings up the New Fiber window where the user defines the name of the new fiber material and specifies its

properties. To add the new fiber material to the Helius:CompositePro material database,

press the Save button. To abandon the new fiber material without saving it to the Helius:CompositePro material database, press the Close button.

2) New Matrix: This option is used to create a new matrix material. Selecting this option brings up the New Matrix window where the user defines the name of the new matrix material and specifies its

properties. To add the new matrix material to the Helius:CompositePro material database,

press the Save button. To abandon the new matrix material without saving it to the Helius:CompositePro material database, press the Close button.

3) New Lamina: This option is used to create a new lamina material. Selecting this option brings up the New

Lamina window where the user defines the name of the new lamina material and specifies the

properties of the new lamina material. To add the new lamina material to the

Helius:CompositePro material database, press the Save button. To abandon the new lamina material without saving it to the Helius:CompositePro material database, press the Close

button.

4) New Lamina from Micromechanics:

This option is used to create a new lamina material when the user does not know the

properties and/or strengths of the new lamina material. When this option is selected, Helius:CompositePro uses micromechanics to compute the properties of the new lamina

material based on the properties of the fiber material and the matrix material that are selected

by the user. Selecting this option brings up the Calculate Lamina Properties window which

contains two tabs. The first (default) tab is the Calculator tab. This tab allows the user to select a particular fiber material and a particular matrix material, in addition to specifying the

fiber volume fraction or the matrix volume fraction. Pressing the Calculator button then

invokes Helius:CompositePros micromechanics module which computes the material properties and strengths of the new lamina. The computed properties of the new lamina are

then displayed in the Results tab. To add the new lamina material to the

Helius:CompositePro material database, press the Save button under the Results tab.

Alternately, the user can go back to the Calculator tab to change the lamina's constituent materials or change the fiber volume fraction and re-compute the properties of the new

lamina. To abandon the new lamina material without saving it to the Helius:CompositePro

material database, simply close the Calculate Lamina Properties window without pressing the Save button.


Micromechanics is the theory by which lamina mechanical properties can be calculated based upon the lamina's fiber material, matrix material and fiber volume fraction. The

principal material coordinate system for the lamina is shown in Figure 4-1. The fibers are

assumed to be continuous and oriented parallel with the '1' direction. The fibers are

primarily responsible for the high strength and stiffness of the lamina in the '1' direction. The matrix material (or resin) provides inter-fiber elastic support, thus giving stability to

the collection of reinforcing fibers. The matrix material is primarily responsible for

providing the lamina's stiffness and strength in the '2' and '3' directions (perpendicular to the fibers), as well as the shear stiffness and strength of the lamina in the three principal

planes.

Helius:CompositePro's micromechanics module computes the elastic properties of the lamina using a quasi-3D micromechanical finite element model that assumes a uniform hexagonal array of fibers distributed in the matrix material. Helius:CompositePro's

micromechanics module computes the strengths of the lamina using various closed form

expressions for the strain-to-failure in various fundamental modes of deformation.

For fiber volume fractions less than 30% the finite element micromechanics model is not available. In this case the elastic constants are calculated using well known closed form

algebraic solutions.

See Sections 4.1 and 4.2 for more detailed information on the process of creating a new

lamina material.

Figure 4-1: Principal lamina coordinate system

5) New Core: This option is used to create a new core material. Selecting this option brings up the New

Core window where the user defines the name of the new core material and specifies its

properties. To add the new core material to the Helius:CompositePro material database, press the Save button. To abandon the new core material without saving it to the

Helius:CompositePro material database, press the Close button.

6) New Thickness/Angle Template: This option is used to create a new thickness/angle template. A thickness/angle template is a

collection of data that completely defines the geometry of a laminate, but does not have any

specific materials associated with it. This geometric data includes the number of plies in the laminate, the thickness of each ply and the fiber orientation of each ply. A thickness/angle

template can be used to during the creation of a new laminate (discussed in Section 4.3) to


instantly supply all of the geometric information needed in the specification of the new laminate. Thus, stored thickness\angle templates are useful for providing easy access to

certain laminate geometries that the user anticipates using frequently. See Section 4.3 for

more detailed information on the process of creating a new thickness/angle template.

7) New Laminate: This option is used to create a new laminate. Selecting this option brings up the New Laminate window which permits the user to define the name of the laminate, the geometry of

the laminate, and identify the materials that are used for each of the laminate's material plies.

Section 4.4 provides detailed information regarding the process of using this option to create

a new laminate.

Lamination is the process by which composite material plies or laminae are stacked and cured together to form a layered material with unique stiffness and strength

characteristics. In order to specify the fiber orientation of the various plies of the laminate, the user assumes a global coordinate system that can be oriented in any manner

that is convenient for the user, provided that the global Z direction coincides with the

through-the-thickness direction of the laminate.

Helius:CompositePro uses two dimensional Classical Laminated plate Theory (CLT) as the basis of calculation for laminated beams, plates and shells. Note that free edge effects

are not accounted for in CLT analyses.

See Section 4.4 for more detailed information on the process of creating a new laminate.

Figure 4-2: a) Laminate Coordinate System, b) Cylindrical Laminate Tube Coordinate System


4.1 Creating a New Fiber, Matrix, Core and Lamina

Upon selecting the New Fiber, New Matrix, New Core, or New Lamina option from New Item drop-

down menu, Helius:CompositePro brings up a new material window that is appropriate for the type of

new material selected. In either case, the user must:

1. Specify a name for the new material,

2. Specify the in-plane properties and a density of the new material,

3. Save the new material in the Helius:CompositePro material database.

New Fiber, New Matrix, or New Core: Figure 4-3a shows the New Matrix window which is similar to

the New Fiber window and New Core window. These windows differ only in the specific properties that

are available for user specification.

New Lamina: Figure 4-3b shows the New Lamina window. Unidirectional lamina are assumed to be

transversely isotropic, with the properties in the 2 direction being equal to the properties in the 3 direction. The Calculate Strains button located on the window allows the user to calculate ultimate lamina strains that correspond to the various ultimate strengths of the lamina:

Figure 4-3: (a) New Matrix window, (b) New Lamina window


The following list briefly describes the material properties that can be entered into Helius:CompositePro. White fields (as shown in Figure 4-3 a & b) indicate the minimum properties required; greyed-out boxes

are not required for basic mechanical analyses.

Material Extension and Shearing Moduli:

E11 (psi) Effective Youngs modulus of the material in the axial 11-direction E22 (psi) Effective Youngs modulus of the material in the transverse 22-direction E33 (psi) Effective Youngs modulus of the material in the transverse 33-direction

G12 (psi) Effective shear modulus of the material in the 12-direction G13 (psi) Effective shear modulus of the material in the 13-direction

G23 (psi) Effective shear modulus of the material in the 23-direction

NU12 Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the material mid-plane in the 2-direction

in response to an imposed extension of the material mid-plane in the 1-direction.

NU13 Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the material mid-plane in the 3-direction in response to an imposed extension of the material mid-plane in the 2-direction.

NU23 Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the material mid-plane in the 3-direction in response to an imposed extension of the material mid-plane in the 2-direction.

CTE1 (in/in/F) Thermal expansion coefficient of the material in the 11-direction. This

coefficient governs the free expansion or contraction of the material mid-plane in

the 1-direction due to a uniform temperature change. CTE2 (in/in/F) Thermal expansion coefficient of the material in the 22-direction. This


the global 2-direction due to a uniform temperature change.

CTE3 (in/in/F) Thermal expansion coefficient of the material in the 33-direction. This coefficient governs the free expansion or contraction of the material mid-plane in

the global 3-direction due to a uniform temperature change.

CME1 (in/in/F) Moisture expansion coefficient of the material in the 11-direction. This


the 1-direction due to a uniform moisture change. CME2 (in/in/F) Moisture expansion coefficient of the material in the 22-direction. This


the global 2-direction due to a uniform moisture change.

CME3 (in/in/F) Moisture expansion coefficient of the material in the 33-direction. This coefficient governs the free expansion or contraction of the material mid-plane in

the global 3-direction due to a uniform moisture change.

+S1 (psi) Normal tensile strength of the material in 11-direction.

-S1 (psi) Normal compressive strength of the material in 11-direction.

+S2 (psi) Normal tensile strength of the material in 22-direction. -S2 (psi) Normal compressive strength of the material in 22-direction.

S12 (psi) Shear strength of the material in the 12-direction.

+e1 (in/in) Normal strain in the 11-direction caused by uniaxial tensile stress +S1.

-e1 (in/in) Normal strain in the 11-direction caused by uniaxial compressive stress S1. +e2 (in/in) Normal strain in the 22-direction caused by uniaxial tensile stress +S2.


-e2 (in/in) Normal strain in the 22-direction caused by uniaxial compressive stress S2. e12 (in/in) Shear strain in the 12-direction caused by shear stress +S12.

K1 (Btu/hr/ft/F) Thermal conductivity of the material in the 11-direction. K2 (Btu/hr/ft/F) Thermal conductivity of the material in the 22-direction.

K2 (Btu/hr/ft/F) Thermal conductivity of the material in the 33-direction.

For core materials:

Ec (psi) Compressive modulus of the core material.

GcL (psi) Core shear modulus in the sandwich plate x-direction. GcW (psi) Core shear modulus in the sandwich plate y-direction.

DENc (lb/in3) Density of the core; not the density of the material the core is made from.

dCell (in) Honeycomb core cell diameter. gage (in) Honeycomb core cell wall thickness.


4.2 Calculating New Lamina Properties from Micromechanics

If the user needs to define a new fiber-reinforced composite material but does not have measured

properties for the composite material, Helius:CompositePro can use micromechanics to calculate the

properties of the new composite material based on known properties of the fiber and matrix constituent materials. Helius:CompositePros micromechanics module utilizes a detailed finite element model of a fiber/matrix unit cell that features a uniform hexagonal distribution of parallel fibers embedded in a

matrix material. The micromechanical finite element model utilizes the properties of fiber and matrix

materials specified by the user, in addition to the fiber volume fraction specified by the user. Helius:CompositePro determines the composite materials elastic properties (e.g., moduli and Poisson ratios) by using the micromechanical finite element model to simulate the various fundamental

load/deformation relationships of the composite material. The use of Helius:CompositePros micromechanics module is described below.

Selecting the New Lamina from Micromechanics option from the New Item brings up the Calculate Lamina Properties window shown in Figure 4-4. Note that the Calculate Lamina Properties window has

two tabs: Calculator and Results. Within the Calculator tab, the user specifies data that defines the new

lamina material. The Results tab is used to display the properties of the new lamina material that are

computed with the Helius:CompositePro micromechanics module. All of the data items that are entered in the Calculate Lamina Properties window are described below.

Figure 4-4: The Calculate Lamina Properties window

1) Material Selection: The user must identify the constituent materials that make up the new

lamina by selecting a fiber material and a matrix material from the Helius:CompositePro

material database. The Helius:CompositePro micromechanics module will use the properties of the selected fiber and matrix materials to compute elastic properties and strengths of the

new lamina material.

2) Percent Content: The user must specify the fiber volume fraction (as a percent) or the matrix volume fraction (as a percent). If the user only has fiber and matrix weight fractions,

then Helius:CompositePros Vf-Wf Converter (see Section 9.1) can be used to convert weight fractions to volume fractions.

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3) Calculate: After completing Items A and B, click the Calculate button to run the Helius:CompositePro micromechanics module to compute the elastic properties and strengths

of the new lamina. Upon completion of the micromechanics calculations, the Calculate

Lamina Properties window automatically switches to the Results tab to display the properties of the new lamina. Note that if the properties of the new lamina are unacceptable, the user

can simply go back to the Calculator tab, change one or more of the input data items, and

recalculate the properties of the new lamina.

Figure 4-5: Results tab of the Calculate Lamina Properties window

4) Saving Results: The new lamina material can be entered in the Helius:CompositePro

material database by clicking the Save button that appears under the Results tab. Once the

new lamina is entered into the material database, the lamina material can be used to define

new laminates.

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4.3 Creating a new Thickness/Angle Template

Helius:CompositePro comes with 18 predefined Thickness/Angle Templates (9 templates for a

carbon/epoxy system and 9 templates for a glass/epoxy system. Selecting New Thickness/Angle

Template brings up the Edit Thickness/Angle Template window as shown in Figure 4-6. Each of the data items that are entered in the Edit Thickness/Angle Template window is discussed below.

Figure 4-6: Thickness/Angle Template window

1) Template Name: The name of new thickness/angle template must be specified by the user.

2) Layup Window: This window displays each of the plies that the user has added to the thickness/angle template. Figure 4-6 shows four plies that have been added to the thickness/angle template. The numbering of the plies increases in the direction of the

positive global Z axis (see Figure 4-9 in Section 4.4). Thus the first ply in the list is always

the ply located at the algebraically smallest global Z coordinate. Likewise, the last ply in the list is always the ply located at the algebraically largest global Z coordinate. For each ply, the

layup window lists the thickness of the ply and the fiber angle of the ply (relative to the

global coordinate system.

Note: All fiber orientation angles are expressed in degrees and must be between -90

and 90. Ply orientation angles are measured as rotations about the global Z axis

(right-hand rule positive). A fiber orientation angle of 0 corresponds to the positive global X direction; a fiber orientation angle of +45 corresponds to a direction half-

way between the positive global X direction and the positive global Y direction; a

fiber orientation angle of +90 corresponds to the positive global Y direction

3) C Template Build Options: The template build options allow the user to perform a number of common laminate building tasks, including adding a new ply, doubling the current

number of plies to make the laminate symmetric, repeating the current number and sequence of plies, or save the thickness/angle template.

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Add Ply The Add Ply button is used to add individual plies to the layup. Pressing the add button will place a new ply at the bottom of the layup. After the new ply appears in the layup window, the user must define the thickness and fiber orientation angle of the

new ply. To define the thickness of the new ply, left click in the space provided, then

type in the thickness value and press the Enter key. The fiber orientation angle is defined similarly.

Symmetric The symmetric button is used to create a mirror image of a selected group of plies and add them to the bottom of the laminate. To use this option, the user first selects (or highlights) a group of plies from the layup window by left-dragging the cursor

over gray boxes to the left of each ply in the group. After the desired group of plies is

highlighted, the user clicks the Symmetric button, and Helius:CompositePro creates a mirror image group of plies and adds them to the bottom of the laminate.

Repeat The Repeat button is used to replicate a selected group of plies and add them to the bottom of the laminate. To use this option, the user first selects (or highlights) a

group of plies from the layup window by left-dragging the cursor over gray boxes to the

left of each ply in the group. After the desired group of plies is highlighted, the user

clicks the Repeat button, and Helius:CompositePro creates a new group of plies (exactly like the highlighted group) and then adds the new group of plies to the bottom of the

laminate.

Export After a thickness/angle template has been created, the user can press the Export button on the to write the thickness/angle template to a *.csv file that is

compatible with Microsoft Excel.

Save This command saves the thickness/angle template. The saved template will then be visible in the file tree under Thickness/Angle Templates.


4.4 Creating a new Laminate

Selecting New Laminate from the New Item drop-down menu brings up the New Laminate window as

shown in Figure 4-7.

Figure 4-7: New Laminate window, shown before the user has added any plies

1) Laminate Name: The name of the new laminate must be specified by the user and typed in the box labeled Laminate Name. If Use Most Recent Laminate is checked under Preferences,

the window will be populated with the laminate most recently used in a session.

2) Rotate Laminate By (deg.): This option will rotate all plies in the laminate by a specified

angle that must be in the range of -90 to 90. The default value of the laminate rotation

angle is zero. The laminate rotation is performed about the global Z axis (right-hand rule

positive). After specifying a nonzero laminate rotation angle, click the Apply button to perform the rotation. Note that the laminate rotation angle is only performed on plies that

have already been defined and appear in the display window. After performing a laminate

rotation, any new plies that are added to the laminate are not subjected to the previously imposed laminate rotation.

3) Coupling: When the Coupling option is set to Zero, Helius:CompositePro forces the laminate to behave as if it was a balanced, symmetric laminate by explicitly zeroing the entire

[B] matrix, along with the shear/extension coupling terms of the [A] matrix. This process

effectively eliminates the bending-extension coupling and the in-plane normal-shear coupling

of the laminate. In a balanced laminate, off-axis plies come in equal and opposite pairs, i.e.,

for every ply that has a fiber orientation angle of +, there is a corresponding ply of the same

material and thickness at a fiber orientation angle of . In a symmetric laminate, the plies located below the mid-plane of the laminate constitute the mirror image of the plies located above the mid-plane of the laminate. A balanced, symmetric laminate has both of these characteristics (e.g., [0/ +45/-45/-45/ +45/0]). Note that the default setting for the

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Coupling option is Non-Zero which results in Helius:CompositePro utilizing the full un-altered [A], [B] and [D] matrices in any laminate calculations. When to zero coupling:

- Tubes Closed symmetrical cross-sections will behave as if they are balanced symmetric even if the layup is not.

- Sandwich Plates For similar face sheets, which is currently the way Helius:CompositePro is programmed, sandwich panels behave as balanced symmetric due to the counteracting effect of one face sheet to the other.

- For Laminate Comparisons To see the effect a balanced symmetric layup would have on the properties of your layup.

4) D Display Area: The display area is used to display the data for all material plies that have

been added to the laminate. The specific data displayed for each ply includes its material

type, thickness and fiber orientation angle (relative to the global coordinate system). The lamina is specified using a dropdown menu. The dropdown will menu will include all of the

laminae available in the My Data material database when the New Laminate window was

opened. (Thus, any new lamina created while the Laminate window is open will not yet be available. To resolve, simply open a fresh New Laminate window after the Lamina is added

to the data tree.)

Figure 4-8 shows the New Laminate window with material ply data visible in the display area after the user has added some plies to laminate. It should be emphasized that the ordering of

the plies in the display area is interpreted relative to the global Z direction that is assumed for

the laminate (see Figure 4-9). The first ply listed in the display area (listed as ply #1) is always located at the negative global Z surface of the laminate. The last ply in the display

area is always located at the positive global Z surface of the laminate.

Figure 4-8: The New Laminate window, showing plies that have been added to the laminate


Figure 4-9: Ply order and the specific location top, middle, and bottom within each ply of a

laminate relative to the assumed global Z direction of the laminate

5) Template Build Options: The template build options provide the user with functionality for building the new laminate that will appear in the display area of the New Laminate window.

Each of the template build options (Add Ply, Insert, Symmetric, Repeat, Library, Delete,

Clear, and Save) is described below.

Add Ply Clicking on the Add Ply button will add a new ply to the end of the current list of plies. After the new ply appears at the bottom of the display area, the user must specify the

type of material to be used for the ply, the thickness of the ply, and the fiber orientation angle of the ply. To specify the type of material for the new ply, the user simply selects one of the

available materials listed in the drop-down menu located in the Lamina column of the display area. To define the thickness of the new ply or the fiber orientation angle of the new

ply, simply left-click in the appropriate cell, type the number value and press the Enter key.

Insert The Insert button adds a ply to a specified location in the laminate that is visible in the display area of the New Laminate window. To use this option the user must select the row where the ply is to be inserted. Clicking on the Insert button will place a new ply

immediately above the selected row. The selected ply and all plies below the selected ply in

the laminate will shift down one row.

Symmetric The Symmetric button is used to create a mirror image of a group of plies that the user selects from the display area of the New Laminate window. The resulting mirror

image group of plies is automatically added to the end of the list of plies in the display area. To use this feature, the user first selects (or highlights) a group of plies in the display area of

the New Laminate window. A group of plies can be selected by holding down the Shift key

while left-clicking the first and last plies of a contiguous group of plies, or holding down the Ctrl key while left-clicking a series of contiguous or noncontiguous plies. After the desired

group of plies is highlighted, the user clicks the Symmetric button, and Helius:CompositePro

creates a mirror image group of plies and adds the new plies to the end of the laminates list of plies.

Repeat The Repeat button is used to replicate a selected group of plies and add the new plies to the end of the list of plies. To use this feature, the user first selects (or highlights) a group of plies from the layup window. After the desired group of plies is highlighted, the

user clicks the Repeat button, and Helius:CompositePro creates a new group of plies (exactly

like the highlighted group) and then adds the new group of plies to the bottom of the laminate.


Library Clicking on the Library button will bring up the Thickness/Angle Manager window as shown in Figure 4-10. This window allows the user to quickly import a stored

thickness/angle template that will define the geometry of a group of plies (i.e., the number

and order of plies, the thickness of each ply, and the fiber orientation of each ply). The imported plies will be automatically added to the list of plies appearing in the display area of

the New Laminate window. After importing a thickness/angle template into the new

laminate, the user has only to identify the material to be used for each of the plies in the thickness/angle template. The Thickness/Angle Manager window contains three options that

control the process of importing a thickness/angle template:

1) Add Template This option allows the user to select the location where the plies of the imported thickness/angle template will be inserted into the existing laminate that

is visible in the display area of the New Laminate window. Replace Current will

simply replace all of the existing plies with the plies of the imported thickness/angle template. Append adds the plies of imported thickness/angle template to the end of

the existing list of plies. Insert After Ply adds the plies of imported thickness/angle

template immediately after a specific ply from existing list of plies. 2) Lamina The lamina option allows the user to select a single material that will be

used for all of the plies in the thickness/angle template. The default setting No Lamina will simply add the thickness/angle template to the laminate layup without specifying a material for any of the plies. The Use Lamina option allows the user to apply a single material type to all of the plies in the thickness/angle template.

3) Choose Template The Thickness/Angle Manager window provides a list of all stored thickness/angle templates. The user simply selects the desired thickness/angle template from the list.

Figure 4-10: Thickness/Angle Manager window

Delete To delete selected ply(s) from the new laminate layup, press the Delete button.

Clear To permanently remove all plies from the display area of the New Laminate window, press the Clear button. This allows the user to quickly start over.

Save To save the new laminate material in the Helius:CompositePro material database, click the Save button in the New Laminate window. The saved laminate will then be visible

in the material data file tree in the Helius:CompositePro GUI.


5 Laminate Module The Laminate drop-down menu provides access to four different laminate analysis windows. Below is a

brief description of various laminate analysis features that can be accessed from the Laminate drop-down

menu. A detailed description of these features and their use is given in Sections 5.2 through 5.5.

Figure 5-1: Windows available under Laminate drop-down menu

1) Laminate Properties This window includes several basic functions to determine laminate properties:

- Q-bars: For each ply in a laminate, Helius:CompositePro computes the plane stress (or

reduced) stiffness matrix [ Q ] expressed in the global coordinate system.

- [ABD], [ABD] Inverse: Helius:CompositePro uses Classical Laminate Theory (CLT) to

compute the 6x6 laminate stiffness matrix (expressed in terms of the 3x3 [A], [B] and [D]

matrices), or the 6x6 laminate compliance matrix (expressed in terms of the 3x3 [A] Inverse, [B] Inverse and [D] Inverse matrices).

[A] matrix defines the in-plane extensional and shearing stiffness of the laminate. [B] matrix defines coupling between the in-plane stiffness of the laminate and the

bending stiffness of the laminate.

[D] matrix defines the bending stiffness of the laminate.


- Laminate Engineering Properties: Helius:CompositePro computes a set of 2-D and 3-D engineering properties for a homogeneous material that has the same effective properties as

the laminate. These 2-D and 3-D engineering properties are the smeared properties of the laminate. Note: The computed values within this calculator are for symmetric and balanced laminates. Use caution when using these values for un-symmetric and/or un-

balanced laminates.

2) Stress-Strain and Strength Analysis This window includes several options for determining

the stress, strain and strength of a laminate:

- Global/Local Stress/Strain: Helius:CompositePro computes the stress and strain state in each ply of a laminate when the laminate is subjected to a user-specified set of in-plane and

bending loads. The computed ply stresses and strains can be expressed in the global

coordinate system or the principal material coordinate system of each individual ply.

- Mid-Plane Strains/Curvatures: Helius:CompositePro computes the laminates mid-plane strains and mid-plane curvatures when the laminate is subjected to a set of user-specified in-plane and bending loads.

- First Ply Failure: When a laminate is subjected to a user-specified set of in-plane and bending loads, Helius:CompositePro identifies the first ply that fails and identifies the type of failure (failure mode) exhibited by the ply.

- Progressive Failure: Helius:CompositePro computes the progressive failure response of the laminate due to a user-specified set of in-plane and bending loads.

Helius:CompositePro identifies the sequence of individual plies that fail as the laminate is

progressively loaded. When a particular ply fails, the stiffness of the failed ply is

drastically reduced to simulate the consequence of its failure. Degradation of the failed plys properties causes additional load to be distributed among the remaining unfailed plies as loading is continued. Depending upon the particular laminate being analyzed and the set

of loads applied to the laminate, the ply-by-ply progressive failure process can be sudden and catastrophic or very gradual and non-catastrophic

3) First Ply Failure Survey: Helius:CompositePro determines the laminates axial tensile strength, axial compressive strength, transverse tensile strength, transverse compressive

strength, and in-plane shear strengths based on first ply failure.

4) Failure Envelope: Helius:CompositePro computes a failure envelope for a laminate subjected to a pair of user-specified in-plane loads. The failure envelope concisely shows all possible

combinations of the two selected in-plane loads that cause laminate failure.

Upon selecting any one of these four options from the Laminate drop-down menu, a window will appear

with the associated analyses options separated into tabs, as shown in Figure 5-1. Each of the four windows begins with the same Laminate tab where the user defines the laminate that will be used in the

analysis. Therefore, before providing a detailed description of the use of the four laminate analysis

options, Section 5.1 will first provide a detailed description of this common Laminate tab.


5.1 Laminate Tab

The Laminate tab is the first tab encountered in all four of the laminate analysis feature windows. Figure 5-2 shows the Laminate tab as it appears in the Laminate Properties window. The Laminate tab allows

the user to define the laminate that will be used in the chosen laminate analysis feature.

If Use Most Recent Laminate is checked under Preferences, the Laminate tab will be populated with the

laminate most recently used in a given session. Otherwise, the Laminate tab is similar to the New

Laminate window described earlier in Section 4.4. With it, the laminate can be defined in either of two

ways:

1) Use an existing Laminate Any laminate that is stored in the Helius:CompositePro material database can be read and loaded into the Laminate tab. To view the list of available laminates in the database, click the Open button on the Laminate tab. The user can select any

laminate from the list by double-clicking the name of the desired laminate, which prompts

Helius:CompositePro to read the material data file of the selected laminate and display the laminates data in the display window of the laminate tab. The laminate data shown in the display window of the Laminate tab includes the material type, thickness and fiber orientation

angle for each of the material plies that make up the laminate.

2) Create a new Laminate Instead of using a laminate that is stored in the

Helius:CompositePro material database, the user can build a new laminate in the Laminate

tab using the same procedure described earlier in Section 4.4. After defining the material and geometric data for the new laminate, the user should give the laminate a name (in the

Laminate Name box) and press the Save button to store the new laminate in the

Helius:CompositePro material database before attempting to perform any analysis on the laminate. (Note, the Lamina dropdown will menu will include all of the laminae available in

the My Data material database when the Laminate Properties window was opened. If a

lamina was created while the Lamina Properties window is open, the window will have to be

closed and re-opened to register the new lamina. )

Figure 5-2: The Laminate tab, as it appears in the Laminate Properties window


5.2 Laminate Properties

The Laminate Properties window under the Laminate drop-down menu includes four basic functions, divided into tabs, to determine laminate properties.

- Q-Bars - ABD Matrices - ABD Inverse Matrices - Properties

Note that clicking the Calculate button will produce results for each tab. These functions are described in

detail in the following sections.

5.2.1 Q-Bars

A [ Q ] matrix is a 3x3 matrix that represents the plane stress (or reduced) stiffness matrix for a particular

material ply in a laminate, expressed in the global coordinate system. Once the [ Q ] matrix is computed

for a particular ply, the global stress components {} in the ply can be computed by multiplying the [ Q ]

matrix by the global strain components {} in the ply, i.e., {} = [Q ]{}.

To Execute:

Once a laminate is defined in the Laminate tab, the [ Q ] matrix can be calculated for each ply simply by

clicking the Calculate button in the Q-Bars tab. Helius:CompositePro displays the results in the results

window of the Q-Bars tab. After the matrices are computed and displayed, the Export button can be clicked to write the results to a *.csv file that is compatible with Microsoft Excel.

Figure 5-3: Q-Bar tab before and after results are calculated for a laminate


5.2.2 [ABD] Matrices and [ABD] Inverse Matrices

In Classical Laminate Theory, the [A], [B] and [D] matrices collectively form the laminate stiffness matrix. The laminate stiffness matrix is used to express the laminate resultant forces per unit width {N}

and the laminate resultant moments per unit width {M}in terms of the laminate mid-plane strains {0} and the laminate mid-plane curvatures {}, as shown in Eq. 5.1.

o

DB

BA

M

N (5.1)

In Classical Laminate Theory, the [A'], [B'] and [D'] matrices collectively form the laminate compliance

matrix. The laminate compliance matrix is used to express the laminate mid-plane strains { o} and the laminate mid-plane curvatures {} in terms of the laminate resultant forces per unit width {N} and the laminate resultant moments per unit width {M}, as shown in Eq. 5.2.

M

N

DB

BAo

''

''

(5.2)

In Helius:CompositePro, the laminate compliance matrix is referred to as the [ABD] inverse matrix, and

the individual 3x3 matrices [A'], [B'] and [D'] of Eq. 5.2 are referred to as the [A] inverse, [B] inverse and [D] inverse matrices.

To Execute:

Once a laminate has been defined in the Laminate tab, the ABD Matrices tab can be selected to compute

the [A], [B] and [D] matrices for the laminate, or the ABD Inverse Matrices tab can be selected to

compute the [A'], [B'] and [D'] matrices for the laminate. In either case, the user clicks the Calculate button to compute the matrices and display the results. Figure 5-4 shows both the ABD Matrices tab and

ABD Inverse Matrices tabs after the user has clicked on the Calculate button. After the matrices are

computed and displayed, the Export button can be clicked to write the results to a *.csv file that is

compatible with Microsoft Excel.


Figure 5-4: Computed results shown in a) the ABD Matrices tab and b) the ABD Inverse Matrices tab of the

ABD /ABD Inverse window.

Note: If the laminate is balanced and symmetric, the entire [B] matrix is zero and the in-plane normal-

shear coupling terms A16, A26 are also equal to zero.


5.2.3 Properties

The effective engineering properties of a laminate are computed by selecting the Properties tab feature from the Laminate Properties window. Once a laminate has been defined in the Laminate tab,

the laminate engineering properties can be computed by clicking the Calculate button.

Helius:CompositePro computes the laminates 2-D and 3-D properties and displays the results in the 2-D and 3-D display windows of the Properties tab (see Figure 5-5).

Note: This function is also available by right clicking on an existing laminate in the file tree and selecting

Laminate Engineering Props.

Figure 5-5: Laminate Engineering Properties Window

After the laminate engineering properties are displayed, there are three different options that can be

invoked within the Properties tab.

1) Plot Moduli This button displays a bar graph of the extensional and bending moduli as well as the shear modulus. This is particularly handy for visualizing the magnitude of the differences in the moduli.

2) Plot CTE This button creates a bar graph that displays all six of the laminate coefficients of thermal expansion: three extensional coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEx, CTEy, and

CTExy) and three curvature coefficients of thermal expansion (CTExk, CTEyk, and

CTExyk). This is particularly handy for visualizing the magnitude of the differences in the

various CTE's.


The curvature CTEs are of particular interest because they show the magnitude of the un-symmetric or unbalanced nature of the laminate. Whenever the CTE plot shows curvature

coefficients of magnitude equal or greater than the extensional coefficients, the laminate will show some degree of warping.

3) Add to LAMINA Properties This button automatically creates a new lamina material whose properties are equivalent to the effective 3-D properties of the current laminate. The

name of the new lamina material will be the same as the name of the current laminate. The

new lamina material will be visible under the Laminas branch of the Material Data File tree.

The following list briefly describes some of the 2-D and 3-D laminate properties that are computed by the

Laminate Engineering Props feature.

Laminate Extension and Shearing Moduli:

Ex (psi) Effective Youngs modulus of the laminate in the global X-direction Ey (psi) Effective Youngs modulus of the laminate in the global Y-direction Ez (psi) Effective Youngs modulus of the laminate in the global Z-direction Gxy (psi) Effective shear modulus of the laminate in the global XY-plane

Gxz (psi) Effective shear modulus of the laminate in the global XZ-plane Gyz (psi) Effective shear modulus of the laminate in the global YZ-plane

Laminate Poissons Ratios:

NUxy Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the laminate mid-plane in the global Y direction in response to an imposed extension of the laminate mid-plane in

the global X direction. NUyx Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the laminate mid-plane in the

global X direction in response to an imposed extension of the laminate mid-plane in

the global Y direction. NUxz Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the laminate mid-plane in the

global Z direction in response to an imposed extension of the laminate mid-plane in

the global X direction. NUzx Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the laminate mid-plane in the

global X direction in response to an imposed extension of the laminate mid-plane in

the global Z direction.

NUyz Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the laminate mid-plane in the global Z direction in response to an imposed extension of the laminate mid-plane in

the global Y direction.

NUzy Poissons ratio interpreted as the free contraction of the laminate mid-plane in the global Y direction in response to an imposed extension of the laminate mid-plane in

the global Z direction.

Note: The following relationship exists between the various corresponding pairs of Poissons ratios:

Ex

NUxy

Ey

NUyx (5.3)


Laminate Flexural Properties:

Exb (psi) Laminate bending modulus in global YZ-plane. Eyb (psi) Laminate bending modulus in global XZ-plane.

Gxyb (psi) Laminate twisting modulus associated with twisting deformation that produces

displacement in the global Z direction.

Thermal Deformation Coefficients:

CTEx (in/in/F) Thermal expansion coefficient of the laminate in the global X-direction. This coefficient governs the free expansion or contraction of the laminate

mid-plane in the global X-direction due to a uniform temperature change.

CTEy (in/in/F) Thermal expansion coefficient in the global Y-direction. This coefficient governs the free expansion or contraction of the laminate mid-plane in

the global Y-direction due to a uniform temperature change.

CTExy (in/in/F) Thermal shear coefficient in the global XY-plane. This coefficient governs the free in-plane shear deformation of the laminate mid-plane in

the global XY-plane due to a uniform temperature change.

CTExk (in/in/F) Thermal curvature coefficient in the global YZ-plane. This coefficient

governs the free bending of the laminate mid-plane in the global YZ-plane due to a uniform temperature change.

CTEyk (in/in/F) Thermal curvature coefficient in the global XY-plane. This coefficient

governs the free bending of the laminate mid-plane in the global XZ-plane due to a uniform temperature change.

CTExyk (in/in/F) Thermal twisting coefficient associated with displacements in the global

Z-direction. This coefficient governs the free out-of-plane twisting of

the laminate mid-plane due to a uniform temperature change.

Note: Figure 5-6 shows the free thermal deformation associated with each of the laminate

coefficients of thermal expansion and curvature.

Moisture Expansion Coefficients:

The coefficients of moisture expansion (CME) are completely analogous to the thermal expansion

coefficients described previously. The only difference is that the magnitude of deformation is

dependent on the uniform % moisture change instead of being dependent on the uniform

temperature c

CompositePro Users Guide

Documents

new laminate

plate module

laminate module

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laminate properties

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