Composite aircraft component design

Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials play a vital role in today’s aerospace industry by enabling more fuel-efficient, lighter-weight aircraft. Several parts of an aircraft’s structure rely on CFRP composites, including the fuselage and the vertical and horizontal tail planes. The complexity of CFRP materials, however, can make the manufacture and physical testing of the composite parts both time-consuming and expensive. 

Virtual testing lets engineers simulate the behaviour of CFRP components early in the design cycle. They can determine the CFRP’s allowables, which are the levels of stress, strain and stiffness allowed for a specific material, configuration, application, and given environment. By determining the allowables of composite materials before physical testing, engineers can reduce costs and create faster development cycles.

Hexagon’s advanced composite materials simulation software integrates micromechanical modelling, progressive failure analysis and non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) in a single solution. With Hexagon’s software, manufacturers can compare the stiffness and strength of laminates for aircraft parts virtually before developing physical allowables that are based on test parameters and ply data.