e-Xstream engineering

In the steady quest for lightweighting solutions, continuous carbon fiber composites are becoming more approachable for design in the Aerospace industry using composite materials.

However, traditional modeling methods don’t allow to accurately predict the performance of composites, especially when it comes to failure and post-failure prediction and yield to over-designed structures.

Unlike classical laminate analysis (First Ply Failure), Digimat provides capabilities to realistically capture nonlinear material behavior at the microscopic level for each phase, allowing its users to expand on known properties or design and optimize new material systems entirely.

• Higher confidence in the design as non-linear properties of each phase are considered. (Related products: Digimat-MF, Digimat-FE)
• Improve performance with weight savings for any structure made of Continuous Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), Short Fiber or Sandwich Structures.
• Develop a complete Virtual Testing Procedure of Material and Laminates.

“The integration of progressive damage models, like Matzenmiller-Lubliner-Taylor model, in nonlinear multi-scale homogenization methods available in Digimat enables to predictively take into account constituent’s properties and microstructure influences over material performance and accurately compute stresses in theses constituents."

-Salvatore Russo, Stress analyst, Airframe, Alenia Aermacchi

• Major nonlinear FEA software (Nastran, Marc, Abaqus, ANSYS, LS-DYNA, PAM-CRASH and SAMCEF)
• Injection Molding software (Moldflow, SigmaSoft, Moldex3, REM3D)
• Draping and Forming software (Simulayt, PamForm)

• CFRP, Short Fibers, Sandwich and HoneyComb
• Primary and Secondary Aircraft Components or Aircraft Interiors Components
• Engine components, Engine Cover
• Hard metals: Landing gear

• Structural stiffness
• Vibration frequencies and modes
• Damage under cyclic loading
• Failure under quasi-static loading
• Failure under crash loading
• Shape stability (large temperature gradients)
• Etc.

Accounting for Successive ply failure in Composite Laminates

Industries: Aerospace Overview: To speed-up material selection and to decrease the development cost of structures made of composites materials, the virtual coupon testing appears to be a promising way. Digimat proposes a complete modeling solution, allowing to predict the successive ply progressive failure of UD correctly. This example shows how to apply the Digimat technology on the open-hole test case performed by Alenia Aermacchi.

DOWNLOAD