Chapter 8: Simulation of Components with Composite Materials

So far in this book, the simulation examples presented have involved components constructed of isotropic materials – that is, materials for which the properties such as Young's and shear moduli and Poisson's ratio are constant in all directions. However, given that there has been an increase in the use of composite materials in many industries in recent years, knowledge of simulation with these materials has become central to the design of advanced engineering products. For this reason, this chapter taps into SOLIDWORKS's simulation capability for the structural analysis of components made of composite materials. The chapter covers the following topics:

• An overview of the analysis of composite structures
• An analysis of composite beams
• An analysis of advanced composite structures