laminate modeling

[brokenembers]

I am trying to model a carbon laminated tube but having problems with the dimentions.
when you form a laminate it is carried out from a zero thickness surface.

when thickness is added in the laminate modeler, which direction is the thickness extroded? radialy outwards, radialy inwards or is the origonal surface the center of the finished tube wall?
hope someone can help.

cheers
embers

 

[jargon5]

The surface to which you are using for your modeling is the midplane of the laminate. Therefore, the thickness is extruded on both sides.

Just a side note on determining weight using laminate elements: the model will generally be overweight due to the overlap of where orthogonal plates meet due to the excess virtual plies.

 

[JacobL]

The direction of the ply growth is defined by the normals of the shell elements.
In any case, it is possible to define an offset in cse the final thickness in extremely importent, for instance when you have thin laminate followed be a transition zone and a thick core+laminate.
In that cae you might want to specify the area with the core with an offset so you get true representation of the layup thickness.