Conducting a Contact Simulation With a Composite Using the Radioss Solver?

sukhesh

Hello Altair community, I'm currently conducting experimental composite simulations in Hypermesh with the Radioss solver with the ultimate goal of replicating a 3 point bend test. My goal is to visualize the failure of the composite and get results similar to my actual conducted 3 point bend test. I am currently using Hypermesh 2025 with the latest Radioss solver to attempt to visualize the deformation and failure of a laminate as seen here:

I have defined the support bars (the two smaller rods acting as support) and the impactor (Big middle rod) as rigid bodies with shell properties and have defined the contact between the rods and the composite with a INTER/TYPE7 contact. Below is the base geometry and setup shown in the model browser.

My issue is when I run my simulation, the impactor moves with the imposed displacement I applied on it, but it only contacts the composite at the source of the stack which is the defined surface (the white panel shown above) rather than the plies themselves (the laminate stack shown in the first image). In the simulation (viewed through hyperview) the impactor simply ignores the plies almost as if they were imaginary. I'm confused how to link the composite plies with the impactor to get a proper visualization of the "crush" that occurs in the stack. I am currently unable to get this result and have not been able to visualize any plies in hyperview either. Could anyone help point me in the right direction to figure out the contact between the plies and the impactor? Thanks.

Gopalk

Hello Sukesh,

Your question can have multiple directions to be answered.

First, assuming that you are modeling the composites using shell modeling approach, the plies can be visualized only at preprocessing stage (Hypermesh) and not in postprocessing (Hyperview). In Hyperview, you can output and view the stress, strain, damage or failure details at ply level, but cannot visualize the laminate stack/plies itself. To visualize the plies/laminate results, and to see any through thickness crushing behavior, you need to use the solid modeling approach.

If you are looking only the bending behavior, and to have the impactor and the laminate thickness to be considered, then the contact parameters “IGAP” and the “Gapmin” (actual physical gap value) should be defined. The “Gapmin” value varies based on how you have defined the thickness of the laminate (using “Ipos” option).

Hope this helps.