Anisotropic/ orthotropic materials in topology optimization
Hi, I am a new user of the Inspire software and I would like to explore topology optimization of aerospace or automotive parts. I was wondering if it is possible to use non-isotropic materials (materials that would require more material properties rather than just one Young's modulus, one poisson ratio, density, yield stress etc.).
For many materials the direction of the applied load changes the material/ part response as material may be made of different constitutents such as composites with distinct fiber orientations in the layups or extruded Aluminum with grain directions.
It seems like Inspire software does not have this capability. Is it possible to model anisotropic/orthotropic materials, analyze and ALSO optimize their topology/ shape using any other software, perhaps OptiStruct? Are there any features that are unavailable in the other software with this capability but available in Inspire? (in other words would I lose functionality if I switch?).
Thank you,
Kuthan
Answers
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Hi Kuthan, did you find a solution? Because I am now facing a similar problem. I need to print a structural component through 3d printing, and I need to tell Inspire that my material is anisotropic. I know I can do it on HyperMesh, but the component has a complex geometry, and meshing in 3d is quite painful. I want to stick to Inspire instead, but I could not find a way to modify the material properties.
Thank you,
Marco0 -
Hi Marco,
Unfortunately, Inspire still does not support anisotropic material cards as far as I am aware. One can get some "inspire-ation" based on the optimized topology that you obtain using the over-simplified material model, and apply the geometrical design to then engineer a new part. Perhaps creating a new custom material in Inspire with the properties set as the lower bound of the properties of your anisotropic/ composite material may give you a somewhat conservative estimate for simple load cases.
Regards,
Kuthan
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