Abaqus Tutorial Midsurface 072315

Modeling a Composite Rib-Section by Mid-Surfacing using
Conventional Shell Elements in Abaqus/CAE

Authors: Andrew Wysocki, Dimitri Soteropoulos
Instructor: Professor James Sherwood
University of Massachusetts, Lowell Finite Element of Composites (22.514)
Overview:
In this tutorial Abaqus/CAE 6.14 is used to analyze a rib section of an airfoil. A three-dimensional model
is imported and mid-surfaced, a process used to create a simplified shell (2-D) representation of a solid
model (Abaqus/CAE Users Manual v6.14, Section 35). Models comprised of shell elements are less
computationally expensive in comparison to three-dimensional solid elements. Additionally, in thin
sections shell elements account for bending responses better compared to models of a single element
thickness. In completion of this tutorial the user will analyze the rib section of a graphite-epoxy
composite wing section using the following workflow:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Import Geometry
Create Mid-surface Model
Define Composite Material Properties
Meshing and Mesh Verification
Geometry Repair
Creating a Composite Layup
Define Steps and Analysis Attributes
Viewing Results
Problem Description:
A four layer [0/90]S graphite-epoxy composite wing section rib is subjected to a bending load will be
examined. Predefined geometry will be imported into Abaqus/CAE 6.14 where the global displacement
will be analyzed. The purpose of this tutorial is to become familiarized with importing a 3-Dimensional
geometry and creating a 2-Dimensional mid-surface to be used as a shell model. The model used in this
tutorial can be found in Figure 1 a. The geometry selected for this tutorial is the rib section of a wing, as
shown in Figure 1 b. The rib section has a uniform thickness of 1.8 mm.
Image: http://www.zenithair.com/stolch701/7-construc.html
Mid-surfacing Tutorial
UMass Lowell - FEA of Composites (22.514)
Figure 1. a.) Rib section geometry used in analysis, and b.) a diagram of a wing section assembly.
The wing section rib in Figure 1 a will be modeled with conventional shell elements. The orthotropic
properties used in this tutorial for a graphite-epoxy composite are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Graphite-Epoxy Material Properties
Material Property
Value
E1
155.0 GPa
E2
12.10 GPa
Nu12
0.248
G12
4.40 GPa
G13
4.40 GPa
G23
3.20 GPa
Opening Abaqus CAE
Open Abaqus CAE 6.14 by clicking Start Abaqus 6.14 Abaqus CAE. If the Start Session window
appears, close it.
Importing the Model Geometry
The first step in importing the model geometry is to locate the file in the directory. A mid-surface shell
will be generated by determining the surface between two faces of a 3-Dimensional model. From the
File menu select Open.
In the Open Database window, locate Left_Wing.cae and click OK.
A dialog box may appear, click Dismiss.
Creating a Mid-surface Model

Creating a mid-surface of a model generates a shell representation of the imported geometry. Using
shell elements can reduce the computational time when analyzing a model. To create a mid-surface
model make sure that Part is selected in the Module: menu above the Viewport.
In the Main Menu bar at the top of the window select Tools Mid-surface Assign
The user is prompted to Select the cells for mid-surfacing. Click the geometry, the edges should turn
red. Click Done.
The imported geometry has been removed and replaced as a reference representation. The reference
representation of the geometry should appear translucent brown.
At this point we have just defined what 3-D geometry we want to create a mid-surface from. The 2-D
surface that will be created will be offset between the top and bottom faces of the reference
representation. To offset a face from the reference geometry go to Tools Geometry Edit in the
Main Menu.
The Geometry Edit dialog will appear. Select Category Face and Method Offset in the Geometry
Edit dialog.
Under the Viewport, use the dropdown menu to select the top face of the reference geometry. This can
be done by selecting each feature individually, by face angle or by face curvature. In this tutorial the
faces are selected by angle. In the Select faces to offset dropdown menu select by face angle the
default value should be 20. Change it to 40. All faces that are joined at an angle of less than 40 will be
selected, which in this model is all of the faces on the top side.
Click the top surface of the geometry, the model should turn red. Click Done.
The Offset Faces dialog will appear. Click Auto Select next to Use target faces to compute distance with
Half the average distance selected.
The top surface should be red and the bottom surface should be purple.
Click OK to in the Geometry Edit dialog. A mid-surface plane has now been created from the reference
geometry.
At this point the reference representation can be removed since it will not be used in the analysis. Open
the Part Display Options (ViewPart Display Options). The reference representation can be toggled
by clicking the Show reference representation box and then pressing Apply. Click OK.
Meshing the Shell

Expand the part in the model tree and double click Mesh (Empty). Click the Seed Part icon and assign an
Approximate Global Seed Size: 10. Click Apply, and then click OK.
Click Mesh Part and then click Yes.
Verify the mesh to check the quality of the mesh (MeshVerify). Select the regions to verify by part,
click the part. Click Done.
The Verify Mesh dialog box will appear. Click Highlight. Elements that do not pass the default mesh
quality tests are highlighted yellow. Notice on the elements that are selected on the nose and tail of the
rib section.
There will also be an indication of the number of warnings below the viewport window.
Press Dismiss to close the Verify Mesh dialog box. Open the Part Module using the dropdown menu
above the main viewport.
Zoom into where the elements were highlighted when verifying the mesh. Note: you will need to zoom
in a considerable amount until you see something like the picture below.
These small pieces were caused by the imported geometry. If the reference representation is turned
back the cause of the problem can be seen (ViewPart Display Options).
Toggle the reference representation off.

Repairing Geometry
In this portion of the tutorial the imperfections caused by the intersection of the shell planes are
repaired. While in the Part Module, locate the region where that needs to be repaired and zoom in to it.
The first region to be repaired is the lower corner (pictured above) of the trailing edge of the rib section.
Open the Geometry Edit dialog box (ToolsGeometry Edit). Select Edge for Category and Repair Small
for Method double click Repair small. While holding Shift individually select the two edges to be
repaired. Click Done.
A prompt will appear stating that the mesh will become invalidated. Click OK.
A second prompt will appear to update the validity of the geometry. Click Yes.
The small imperfection has been fixed. Repeat the procedure for the filet on the opposite side of the
trailing edge.
Repair the filets on the leading edge in a similar fashion selecting the edges as shown below. Close the
Geometry Edit dialog box and cancel the procedure by clicking the red x below the viewport window.
Re-mesh the part by double clicking Mesh (Empty) in the Model Tree and then click the Mesh Part
button. Click Yes.
10
Defining Composite Material Properties

When defining properties in Abaqus CAE it is important to consider the unit system that you will be
working in. Consult Table 2 to ensure that a consistent system of units is used. For this tutorial the SI
(mm) unit system will be used.
Table 2. Consistent unit systems
Quantity
Length
Force
Mass
SI
SI (mm)
US Unit (ft)
US Unit (inch)
lbf
kg
slug
Time
Energy
(
J
Density
Stress
Double click Materials in the model tree and create a material as shown below. Change the name of the
material to Graphite-Epoxy. To define the material as a lamina with the properties found in Table 1 go to
MechanicalElasticityElastic. In the Type: dropdown select Lamina.
11
Click OK.
Note that the values for the elastic modulus are inputted in units of MPa.
Creating a Composite Layup

A composite layup will be created for this model, representing a four-ply laminate. For a composite
layup, region, material, ply orientation and thickness will be assigned. This step is similar to creating and
assigning a section for an isotropic material analysis. Expand the Parts entry in the model tree by clicking
the + to the left of it. Further expand the model tree by clicking the + next to the part called Left Wing72. Double click Composite Layups and create a four-ply layup with conventional elements as shown
below.
12
Click Continue and the Edit Composite Layup dialog box will appear. Double click Region under the
Plies tab and the dialog box will disappear. Drag the mouse to draw a box around the whole model and
click Done. The Edit Composite Layup dialog box will reappear and the four plies will show (Picked)
under their respective Region.
Double click Material in the Edit Composite Layup dialog box and the Select Material dialog box will
appear. If the dialog box does not appear, right click the Material column label and go to Edit Material
Because only one material has been created for this analysis, Graphite-Epoxy is preselected. Click OK to
assign this material to each of the plies.
13
Next, a relative thickness will be assigned to the ply. Double click Element Relative Thickness in the Edit
Composite Layup dialog box and the Thickness dialog box will appear. If the Thickness dialog box does
not appear, right click the column label Edit Thickness. The total thickness of the rib section is 1.8 mm
thick. Since the layup schedule is four-layers, the thickness of each layer is 1.8/4. Enter 1.8/4 in the
Specify Value: option and click OK.
The final step in creating the composite layup is to assign fiber orientation to each of the plies. The
stacking sequence for this laminate is [0/90]S therefore rotation angles will be defined as such in the
laminate. The rotation angle is calculated with respect to the 1-Reference axis. Enter 0 in the Rotation
Angle boxes.
Check the material orientation by clicking the CSYS column.
14
Ensure that the material is defined as desired. Be sure to note which way the 1- and 2-directions of the
layup are oriented. The Layup Orientation should default to Definition Part global.
Note how the 1- and 2-directions follow the contours of the part. Discrete material orientations can also
be added to define a local material orientation for the part.
Creating an Instance
Expand the Assembly option in the model tree and double click Instances. In the Create Instance dialog
box that appears, select Left Wing-72 -1 and create an instance of the part called Left Wing-72-mesh-1
by clicking OK.
15
Creating a Step
Double click Steps (1) in the model tree and create a General Static, General Step. Accept all defaults
for this step. Click Continue, and then click OK.
Creating Sets for Analysis Attributes

In this portion of the analysis sets are created to simplify the application of boundary conditions and
loads. Under Parts in the model tree, double click Sets. The Create Set dialog box will appear, name the
set TrailingEdge under Type select Node. Click Continue.
16
Click
in the Views Toolbar to change the orientation to the Top. The Views Toolbar can be activated
by View Toolbars Views.
17
At the bottom of the Viewport window, change Select the nodes for the set to by feature edge. Hover
the cursor over the nodes on the trailing edge of the rib section. When the nodes are highlighted, click
once to select them.
Click Done.
Repeat for the other side, name the Set LeadingEdge.
Applying a Fixed Boundary Condition

Double click BCs in the model tree to create a Mechanical, Symmetry/Antisymmetry/Encastre
boundary condition on the trailing edge of the rib section. In the Create Boundary Condition dialog
window, change Name: to Fixed select the Category to be Mechanical and the Type to be
Symmetry/Antisymmetry/Encastre. Click Continue.
On the bottom of the viewport click Sets
In the Region Selection dialog box select the set created for the trailing edge of the rib section.
18
Click Continue. Select ENCASTRE (U1=U2=U3=UR1=UR2=UR3=0) in the Edit Boundary Condition dialog
box. Click OK.
Applying a Displacement Boundary Condition

A load is to be applied to the model at the top left nodes so as to develop a bending load in the curved
plate. Double click BCs (1) in the model tree and create a Mechanical, Displacement/Rotation type
boundary condition. Ensure that Step-1 is selected in the Step: option in the Create Boundary
Condition dialog box. Change the Name: to DISP.
19
Click Continue
In the Region Selection dialog box, select the Set created for the LeadingEdge node set. Click
Continue.
Check the box next to U3: and enter a value of -1.
Click OK. Small orange arrows pointing in the negative z direction will appear at the nodes.
Create and Run a Job
Double click Jobs in the model tree and create a Job called Rib_Section. Click Continue
20
In the Edit Job dialog box, accept all defaults and click OK.
Expand the Jobs (1) option in the model tree and right click the Rib_Section job and click Submit.
21
When the analysis has completed, the Message Area at the bottom of the screen should look similar to
the figure shown below.
Viewing Results
Right click the job Rib_Section (Completed) in the model tree and click Results.
You will automatically be entered into the Visualization module where the model has turned green and
is oriented in an isometric view. Click the Plot Contours on Deformed Shape icon in the Visualization
module and the Von Mises stress contour will appear.
22
The displacement contour of UZ is to be viewed for the laminate. At the top of the screen, change the
dropdown selection from S to U and from Magnitude to U3.
23
The range of displacement values can be read from the legend in the viewport. To increase the font size
of the legend go to ViewportViewport Annotation Options. In the Viewport Annotation Options click
Set Font. The Select Font window will appear, change Size to 14.
24
Conclusion
This concludes the Modeling a Composite Rib-Section by Mid-Surfacing using Conventional Shell
Elements tutorial. Mid-surfacing was used to create a 2D shell representation from a 3D solid geometry
of a composite rib structure. While mid-surfacing is both a common and helpful tool when working with
thin walled parts, further geometric editing and fixing may be required prior to meshing. These
imperfections will create distorted elements and should be taken care of in the preprocessing stage. A
typical decrease in run time and overall element count will be obtained by using a mid-surfaced part
rather than a full 3D model.
25

Abaqus Tutorial Midsurface 072315

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Abaqus Tutorial Midsurface 072315

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Modeling a Composite Rib-Section by Mid-Surfacing using

Conventional Shell Elements in Abaqus/CAE

In the Open Database window, locate Left_Wing.cae and click OK.

A dialog box may appear, click Dismiss.

Creating a Mid-surface Model

Meshing the Shell

Click Mesh Part and then click Yes.

Toggle the reference representation off.

Defining Composite Material Properties

Creating a Composite Layup

Creating Sets for Analysis Attributes

Repeat for the other side, name the Set LeadingEdge.

Applying a Fixed Boundary Condition

On the bottom of the viewport click Sets

Applying a Displacement Boundary Condition

Check the box next to U3: and enter a value of -1.

You might also like