A CAD toolbox for Composite Materials Modelling and Drawing

The importance of composite materials in industrial applications in growing mainly due to a very advantageous strength/weight ratio and to the capability of modelling complex geometric shapes. Thus, the handling of composite materials within CAD systems requires a different approach with respect to classic metallic materials. As a matter of fact, only advanced and expensive CAD systems provide dedicated modules for composite materials modelling, drawing and manufacturing. This paper presents the development of an add-on toolbox for general purpose CAD systems, designed to help a CAD designer to operate with composite materials. The toolbox provides an integrated environment whose main capabilities are: laminate properties dynamic link with digital model, automatic computation of laminate orthotropic properties, automated generation of materials bill for suppliers, assisted 2D drawing. The add-on has been developed keeping into account the European standardization related to composite drawing. Results obtained confirm the usefulness of this simple add-on, even if the integration with more functions would increase the capabilities. This paper presents some preliminary results; in the following, this tools will be improved to handle variable thickness composites and complex shapes.