Flying Off The Line:

How Aerospace Knowledge Can Accelerate the

Use of Composites in Mass Produced Autos

Rani RichardsonComposites Product Specialist

Etienne ArdouinComposites Consultant

Body in White Challenges

2030+Now!

Steel

BiW

Plastic BIW

+

Steel BiW

Composite BiW+

Steel / Alu BiW

Body have to be more & more lighter. New Material introduction

Aluminium

BiW

Composite material

introduction for Body

panel mass market.

To reduce weight -> Lower fuel consumption, lower emissions

To decrease number of parts -> Design flexibility

For structural robustness -> Safety improvement

For styling innovations -> New aesthetics

For NVH improvements (reducing noise) -> Better comfort

For fatigue resistance, no corrosion -> Improved life cycle compared to steel

Why composites in automotive?

Composites as a core business

Best-in-class Composites Products Required to Design and manufacture every part in an optimum wayHarmonize processes, methods and toolsSupport a single harmonized end-to-end process with a single toolset at OEM and for its Supply Chain

Traditional Sequential ProcessNo efficient collaboration capabilityNo ability to get feedbackLimited ability to anticipate

Many Industrial ChoicesTransformation of core / non core businessIn-house or externally subcontracted activity Earlier Supply Chain involvementSynergies development

Composites on the rise

Evolution in types of composite parts over the past 30 years

Today’s premium and luxury cars are beginning to slowly break through in mass markets

New vehicle:BMW’s Mega-city

vehicle due 2013

Compelling benefits of composites

Automotive Composites Alliance

Prototype benchmark – Metals vs. CompositesTrunk: 50% mass reduction

Composites hood: 30 to 40% weight savings

Deck lid: 25 to 35% mass reduction

Tooling is less costly

Vehicle more resistant to damage – dents, corrosion

Composite assemblies have fewer parts

From metal to composites: facing new challenges

Current statusTools for design, analysis and manufacturing are in different formats

Lack of collaboration, automation and communication

CAD/CAE tools intended to work with metals

Trial and error on the Shop Floor

Future

New tools for end-to end process

Product design ->virtual testing->ensure manufacturability

Unified platform to accelerate collaboration

Concurrent engineering reduces cycle time

Validate manufacturing by simulating what will happen on the Shop Floor

Mastering a complex design process

Factors to take into account:

Material properties

Software tool must be able to handle frequent design changes

Balance between weight and design optimization

Design software must be able to automatically communicate with

and receive feedback from analysis and manufacturing

Manufacturing constraints must be integrated into the design

model

Simulate manufacturing during the design phase to ensure

designed intent and as-built model match

From Manual to Automated Manufacturing Processes

Challenges

Time consuming trial and error

Cutting plies, placing them on the mold

using manual measurement

If they don’t fit, start the process over

Complex shapes make it hard to

predict how material will drape on the

mold

Not repeatable or optimized

Improvements on PLM platformOutput for various shop floor systems for automated fiber placement and tape laying systems.

Simulation capabilities ensure that the detailed design is manufacturable

Generation of flat patterns to be exported to a ply cutting machine or laser projection systems

Generate output for RTM machines directly from CAD design software

Shop floor documentation can be printed, created as a PDF file or an electronic ply book

Composites challenges require an PLM integrated solution

Mostly all composites structures are designed in CAD solutions not intended for Composites, where Design, Analysis and Manufacturing are not integrated.

A sequential process where the different components interface with no efficient collaboration capability, no ability to get feedbacks, and limited ability to anticipate doesn’t meet anymore the increasingly demanding requirements for Composites development.

Only a PLM Integrated Solution allows to fully optimize the complete process.

Unique ability or the Designer to work in functional context, get accurate feedbacks from Simulation and Manufacturing and even better, anticipate and avoid problems early in the process.

Physical world

IP Capitalization

Hand Lay-Up

RTM, VARTM, VARI

Automated Tape Laying

Automated Fiber Placement

Applying Lessons Learned in the Aerospace Industry

3 main objectives :

Development lead time reduction

Go to Market with full maturity

Increase ramp-up capacity

With the expertise acquired in the Aerospacefield, CAD designers can propose not onlytechnological solutions but also to helpcustomers accelerate the learning curve byleveraging scalable practices.

Identify & develop market Best In Class end to end solutions

Competitive solution development improving baseline

Best solution on existing platformEnhancement to reach baseline

Best Practices - Secure Deployment

Competitiveness

Best in Class on the market

V6 Composites in actionB-Pillar Example

3D Simulation for Composites

Bring FEA for Designer with easy to use integrated tools dedicated to preliminary analysis during design stage.

Enhance productivity for Analyst Expert: tighter integrated to Design

to allow to build complex simulation model quicker.

Perform accurate advanced virtual testing:

Non linear Structural and Thermal analysis

Fracture and Debonding analysis

Crush and Impact simulation

Meshing associative to CAD

Laminate import associative to the Composites Design modelPlies and Core, Zones

Transfer producibility results into simulation model

“Structural Simulation with fiber direction As Manufactured”

CAD integrated solver able to simulate laminated structuresAssemble plies orthotropic properties

Classical Shell Model Laminate theoryPlies material properties as defined in the material card

Linear static analysis, Frequency, Buckling analysis

Post processing dedicated to composites materialsPly per ply visualization, enveloppe

Failure criteria for othotropic plies

3D Simulation for Composites Designer

Classical shell model

Continuum shell model

Stacked model

Stacked elements: Continuum shells/solids

Delamination modeling

Cohesive elements/ cohesive contact

VCCT

Microscopic modeling

Trend

More “virtual” tests

Increased model complexity/nonlinearity

Modeling Approaches

Simulation of Composites with Abaqus Unified FEA

AccuracyComplexityNonlinearity

SimplificationAnalysis speed

Simulation model

• Global stress analysis

• Preliminary component design

• Local failure analysis

• Analysis of critical regions

TR

EN

D

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3D Simulation for Analyst Expert- Overview

Composites Link for

CATIA Composites

Design

Simulation

Geometry Zone Model Ply Model Manufacture

Composites Modeler

for ABAQUS CAE

3D Simulation for Analyst- Link to Design & Manuf

Depending on the purpose of the analysis, different modeling techniques for

composites can be used (e.g., microscopic, layered, smeared, rebar, and

submodeling).

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Composite

Ply-1

Ply-2

Matrix-1

Fiber-1

Matrix-2

Fiber-2

(a) Microscopic modeling

(b) Layered modeling

(c) Smeared modeling

microscopiclayeredsmeared

Ply-1 is the equivalent homogeneous

material model for the Matrix-1 and Fiber-1

combine (similar definition for Ply-2)

Composite is the equivalent homogeneous

material model for the Ply-1 and Ply-2

combine

Ply-1

Ply-1

3D Simulation for Analyst Expert- Overview

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Comprehensive Composites Capabilities with SIMULIA

Delamination(cohesive elements) Composites

Fracture / Failure

(VCCT)

Easy to usePre/Post(Abaqus/CAE)

Manufacturabilityand draping

(Composites Modeler

for Abaqus/CAE)

Optimization

CompositesCrush

Partnership with Boeing

(VCCT)

Partnership with Simulayt

(CMA)

Isight

Partnership with Engenuity

(CZone for Abaqus)

Partnership with FireholeTechnologies(Helius:MCT)

3D Simulation for Analyst Expert- Overview

Impact Analysis – Abaqus/Explicit

Tensile Analysis – Abaqus/Standard

In-plane tension

Barely Visible Impact Damage (BVID)

Abaqus allows the import of the damage model for fiber-reinforced composites fromAbaqus/Explicit to Abaqus/Standard to model the analysis of Barely Visible ImpactDamage (BVID) in composite structures.

ABAQUS/Explicit is used to model low speed impact which results in damage.

Further analysis of the damaged plate is

conducted in Abaqus/Standard.

1

2

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36-ply composite face sheet modeled with continuum shells and damage definitions

Honeycomb core

Key features

Allows moving and stationary cracks

First-order continuum elements

Static procedure

Comprehensive modeling and visualization

Application to Composites StructuresCan be used with VCCT or cohesive surfaces

to model delamination

New fracture initiation criteria in Abaqus 6.10

(request from the composite industry)

XFEM and cohesive

elements

XFEM: eXtended Finite Element Method

Mesh independent crack modeling

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Simulation of Crushing Processes

CZone for Abaqus (CZA)

Required material data

Composite stiffness/strength, parameters for damage law

Determined from regular material tests (tension, compression, shear)

Govern composite behavior outside crushing zone

Composite crushing stress

Including angle and velocity dependency

Determined from crash tests (coupons or simple structures)

Governs energy absorption in crushing zone

Benefits

More realistic prediction of crushing process/transition to global cracking

Without well-known force oscillations due to shell element deletion

Cone crushing in test and CZA simulation

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CZone for Abaqus : Virtual vs. Real Testing

Thank you !