Basic structural design of fiber reinforced components based on open source software
Topic(s) : Material and Structural Behavior - Simulation & Testing
Co-authors :
Urs ZIMMERMANN (SWITZERLAND), Varun URUNDOLIL (SWITZERLAND), Markus ZOGG (SWITZERLAND), Gion Andrea BARANDUN (SWITZERLAND)Abstract :
The state of the art in industry in designing structural parts is typically based on FEA. Specifically, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composite components require careful analysis and optimization based on FEA due to the anisotropic nature of the material, complex failure behaviour and the large design freedom. FEA helps reduce the number of prototype iterations which reduces the ecological and economical footprint.
However, due to the high upfront investment in commercial FEA software and the necessary training of em-ployees, SMEs have limited or no access to these tools. Furthermore, commercial software’s are often very capable and suited for complex and detailed structural analysis. For preliminary analyses or initial concept validation, a software solution with fewer features may be sufficient. In such cases, freely available open-source FEA software can meet the necessary requirements, balancing both the complexity of the software and the associated economic costs effectively. In this investigation such a FEA software was selected and validated for the first design of FRP structures.
The FEA software “Code_Aster” is such an open-source software which may be well suited for first design of FRP structures. In this work, it was evaluated, validated, and further improved for the first design of FRP structures. Using Python, a script based interaction is possible with Code_Aster. Which enables the easy addition of features specific to FRP structural design as well as the needs of SMEs.
Based on feedback from SMEs, a set of often used FRP materials and manufacturing processes where experimentally evaluated to determine the input properties required by the FEA software. The engineering workflow for the first design of a lightweight FRP structure consists of the following steps: part design, meshing, defining materials and boundary conditions, running the FEA and subsequent visualisation and analysis of the results. The current workflow is validated for to thin shell structures, with linear elastic consti-tutive behaviour and two established failure criterions.
For a set of demonstrator parts, the entire engineering workflow using Code_Aster is compared to commer-cial FEA software and experimentally validated. These investigations have shown excellent agreement in stiffness, strength and stability between the free open-source software and commercial software.
This investigation has led to the development of a training course, tailored to address the specific needs and personnel of SMEs.
However, due to the high upfront investment in commercial FEA software and the necessary training of em-ployees, SMEs have limited or no access to these tools. Furthermore, commercial software’s are often very capable and suited for complex and detailed structural analysis. For preliminary analyses or initial concept validation, a software solution with fewer features may be sufficient. In such cases, freely available open-source FEA software can meet the necessary requirements, balancing both the complexity of the software and the associated economic costs effectively. In this investigation such a FEA software was selected and validated for the first design of FRP structures.
The FEA software “Code_Aster” is such an open-source software which may be well suited for first design of FRP structures. In this work, it was evaluated, validated, and further improved for the first design of FRP structures. Using Python, a script based interaction is possible with Code_Aster. Which enables the easy addition of features specific to FRP structural design as well as the needs of SMEs.
Based on feedback from SMEs, a set of often used FRP materials and manufacturing processes where experimentally evaluated to determine the input properties required by the FEA software. The engineering workflow for the first design of a lightweight FRP structure consists of the following steps: part design, meshing, defining materials and boundary conditions, running the FEA and subsequent visualisation and analysis of the results. The current workflow is validated for to thin shell structures, with linear elastic consti-tutive behaviour and two established failure criterions.
For a set of demonstrator parts, the entire engineering workflow using Code_Aster is compared to commer-cial FEA software and experimentally validated. These investigations have shown excellent agreement in stiffness, strength and stability between the free open-source software and commercial software.
This investigation has led to the development of a training course, tailored to address the specific needs and personnel of SMEs.