-
From the main menu bar, select
.
A Create Composite Layup dialog box appears.
-
Enter a composite layup name.
Abaqus/CAE
displays this name in a ply stack plot. For more information on naming objects,
see
Using basic dialog box components.
-
Specify the initial ply count. When the composite layup editor
appears, it will contain a row for each ply; however, you can use the editor to
subsequently add or delete plies.
-
Select Continuum Shell as the Element
Type, and click Continue.
The composite layup editor appears.
-
Enter a description of the layup.
Abaqus/CAE
displays this description in the composite layup manager.
-
Do one of the following to specify the layup orientation:
-
Select Part global to use the part's
coordinate system, and choose the axis that represents the Normal
direction.
-
Select Coordinate system to select an
existing coordinate system (or create a new coordinate system and select it),
and do the following:
-
Choose the axis that represents the Normal
direction.
-
Specify an additional rotation. The selected coordinate system
is rotated through this angle about the selected axis. You can specify an
angle, or you can select an existing scalar discrete field that defines an
angle that is varying spatially across the layup.
Abaqus/CAE
allows you to select only valid discrete fields, which, for an additional
rotation, are scalar discrete fields applied to elements. You can also create a
new discrete field by clicking
. For more information, see
The Discrete Field toolset.
-
Select Discrete to define a discrete
orientation, and do the following:
-
Click
.
-
In the Edit Discrete Orientation dialog
box that appears, define the normal axis and primary axis using the procedure
described in
Using discrete orientations for material orientations and composite layup orientations.
-
Choose the axis that represents the Normal
direction.
-
Specify an additional rotation. The orientation is rotated
through this angle about the selected normal axis. You can specify an angle, or
you can select or create a scalar discrete field that defines an angle that is
varying spatially across the layup.
Abaqus/CAE
allows you to select only valid discrete fields, which, for an additional
rotation, are scalar discrete fields applied to elements. You can also create a
new discrete field by clicking
. For more information, see
The Discrete Field toolset.
-
Select User-defined to define the orientation
in user subroutine
ORIENT. This option is valid only for
Abaqus/Standard
analyses. See the following sections for more information:
-
Select the name of an orientation discrete field to specify a
coordinate system that is varying spatially across the layup. You can also
create a new discrete field by clicking
to the right of the Definition field.
For more information, see
The Discrete Field toolset.
After selecting the discrete field, you must do the following:
-
Choose the axis that represents the Normal
direction.
-
Specify an additional rotation. The selected coordinate system
is rotated through this angle about the selected axis. You can specify an
angle, or you can select or create a scalar discrete field that defines an
angle that is varying spatially across the layup.
The layup orientation is the reference orientation for any ply that
uses the default orientation system (indicated by
<Layup> in the CSYS column of
the ply table). This orientation will be used for material calculations and
stress output in the individual plies, for the section forces output, and for
the transverse shear stiffness. You can specify a different orientation for the
individual plies of a continuum shell composite layup by specifying a reference
orientation and/or a rotation angle. For more information, see
Understanding composite layups and orientations.
-
Choose one of the following to specify the stacking direction of the
continuum shell elements:
You can use the
Query toolset
to determine the mesh stack orientation. However, the displayed orientations
account for only the sweep path; they do not account for changes to the
stacking direction as described above. For more information on the
Query toolset,
see
Using the Query toolset to query the model.
For more information on mesh stack directions, see
Defining the Stacking and Thickness Direction.
-
Choose one of the following Section integration
methods:
-
Choose During analysis to specify properties
for a continuum shell composite layup integrated during the analysis.
-
Choose Before analysis to specify properties
for a pre-integrated continuum shell composite layup.
-
If you are specifying properties for a composite layup integrated
before the analysis, specify the Idealization to apply to
the shell based on assumptions about the expected behavior or makeup of the
layup. For more information, see
Idealizing the Section Response.
-
Select No idealization to account for the
complete stiffness of the shell as determined by the material assignments and
ply composition.
-
Select Smeared properties if you do not know
the exact stacking sequence for the plies in the composite layup. Contributions
from each specified ply are smeared across the entire thickness of the layup,
resulting in a general response independent of the stacking sequence.
-
Select Membrane only if the predominant
response of the shell will be in-plane stretching; bending stiffness terms are
eliminated from the shell stiffness calculations.
-
Select Bending only if the predominant
response of the shell will be pure bending; membrane stiffness terms are
eliminated from the shell stiffness calculations.
-
If you are specifying properties for a composite layup integrated
during the analysis, select the Thickness integration
rule.
See
Defining the Shell Section Integration,
for more information.
-
When you have finished defining the continuum shell composite layup,
click OK to save your changes and to close the editor.
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