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16/05/2011

Defining cylindrical coordinate system with solid elements for composite material
Abaqus v6.10, and the previous versions, predefines a cylindrical coordinate system for solid elements with the following corresponding between axes: Axis 1: Radial axis. Axis 2: Circumferential axis. Axis 3: Axial axis.

However, composite material structures are typically modeled with the following local coordinate system definition: Axis 1: Longitudinal fiber direction. Axis 2: Transversal fiber direction. Axis 3: Normal to the composite lamina.

After a deep study and some requesting to SIMULIAs personal assistance, only two solutions have appeared as suitable to solve this limitation. The first solution consists in changing to equivalent material properties to the new cylindrical axis system, while the second option is defining a discrete coordinate system based on the geometry. This second one can only be applied to Abaqus/Cae v6.10.

Solution 1: Changing to equivalent material properties

The cylindrical coordinate system predefined by Abaqus is used, as a consequence, an equivalent material properties must be calculated to the new material local axis system. The equivalence between the typical composite axis numeration and the new local axes is shown in Table 1 and in Figure 1.

Composite typical axis numeration

1 2 3

Abaqus cylindrical axis numeration

2 3 1

Table 1. Local material axis equivalence between the typical in composite and the system used if a cylindrical system with solid elements is defined in Abaqus.

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Figure 1. Plane example of the local material axis equivalence.

An example of the new axis numeration used is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Cylindrical example of the new axis numeration

The equivalent Young and Shear modulus are found directly changing the axis number. Nevertheless, for calculating the equivalent Poisson modulus the following equations of a transversally isotropic material must be used:

21
E 22

12
E11

31
E33

13
E11

32
E33

23
E 22

(Eq. 1)

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An example of the calculation of the equivalent material properties is included in Table 2.

Original composite properties Modulus

E1 [MPa] E2 [MPa] E3 [MPa] 12 13 23 G12 [MPa] G31 [MPa] G23 [MPa]

Value
180000 8000 8000 0.3 0.3 0.4 3000 3000 2857.14

Equivalent material properties to introduce to Abaqus Modulus Value

E2 [MPa] E3 [MPa] E1 [MPa] 23 21 12 31 13 G23 [MPa] G12 [MPa] G31 [MPa] 180000 8000 8000 0.3 0.01333 0.4 3000 3000 2857.14

Table 2. Example of an equivalent material properties to introduce to Abaqus through engineering constants material definition.

During the post-processing, the change of the axis numeration has to be taken into account when stress and deformation results are obtained. The results axis numeration equivalence is shown in Table 3.

Abaqus Results Axis

S22 S33 S11 S23 S12 S13

Meaning
Longitudinal Fiber stress Transversal Fiber stress Normal to composite lamina stress In-plane shear stress Out-of-plane shear stress Out-of-plane shear stress

Typical Material axis

S11 S22 S33 S12 S13 S23

Table 3. Results axis equivalence. Stress is used as example.

If any subroutine is used for applying a failure criterion or damage model through the elements stress or deformation, it is necessary to modify the subroutine to take into account the change of the material local axis. In the most part of subroutines, it is only necessary to modify the data input part. For example, in the UVARM subroutine LaRC-04 failure criteria (Camanho, PP.; Pinho, ST., 2007), the stress element output passed by Abaqus have to be adapted to the new axis numeration. The original and modified stress input part is shown next:

Original stress input part

stress(1) = array(1) stress(2) = array(2) stress(3) = array(3) stress(4) = array(4) stress(5) = array(5) stress(6) = array(6)

Modified stress input part

stress(1) = array(2) stress(2) = array(3) stress(3) = array(1) stress(4) = array(6) stress(5) = array(4) stress(6) = array(5)

Then, the results of the subroutine can be analyzed directly, because they are not influenced for the change of the material local axis. 3

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Solution 2: Defining a discrete coordinate system based on the geometry

The second alternative is defining a discrete coordinate system based on the geometry. This option is only available in Abaqus/Cae v6.10, and it is thought precisely for defining composite layup orientations. You can find more information about how applying that technique in Abaqus Documentation: http://abaqus.civil.uwa.edu.au:2080/v6.10/books/usi/default.htm Section: 12.15 Using discrete orientations for material orientations and composite layup orientations. The main advantage is that you can use the typical composite axis numeration. However, you have a discrete orientation, with the error that this entails, and Abaqus v6.10 is necessary.