AERSYS

AERSYS7001
KNOWLEDGEUNIT

Author: AsierRuizdeAguirreMalaxetxebarria Date: 04/01/2011
FEM X HAND LIN NOLIN BUCK FAT STATIC COMP X MET

TRANSFORMINGPCOMPTOPSHELL

1. INTRODUCTION

NASTRAN uses PCOMP cards usually combined with MAT8 cards to define composite
materials.ThePCOMPcardsareinternallyconvertedtoPSHELL+MAT2cardsbyusingthe
equivalentpropertiesformembrane,bending,outofplaneshearandmembranebending
coupling.

Although the way to define the PCOMP cards is more straightforward once the layup is
defined,thePSHELL+MAT2cardsofferthepossibilitytomanipulateeachtermandallow
the user to implement some especial features on the model. For example a pure
membrane behavior without bending stiffness can be defined, or the coupling between
membraneandbendingcanberemovedinasymmetriclaminates.

For these reasons sometime is very useful to use the PSHELL combined with MAT2 to
definethecomposites.But,theproblemistotransformtheeasilydefinedPCOMPcardin
thecomplexPSHELL+MAT2cards.

2. THEORETICALBACKGROUND

The force flows of the shell elements are related with the strains and curvatures of the
elementsbytheA,BandDmatricesinthefollowingway:

Where:
n:Forceflows(N/mm)
m:Momentflows(N)
A,B,D:Stiffnessmatricesofthelaminate
:Strainsofthelaminate
k:Curvaturesofthelaminate

Membrane:

The matrix [A] relates the force flows with the strains on the laminate in absence of
curvatures(membranebehavior):

1 AERSYSAERONAUTICAS.L.2011Allrightsreserved

 AERSYS
AERSYS7001
KNOWLEDGEUNIT

Author: AsierRuizdeAguirreMalaxetxebarria Date: 04/01/2011
FEM X HAND LIN NOLIN BUCK FAT STATIC COMP X MET

TRANSFORMINGPCOMPTOPSHELL

Iftheequationaboveisdividedbythethicknessofthelaminate:

1

ThereforetheMAT2ofthemembranebehavior(MID1field)willbe:

1
1

UsingaZ0onthePCOMPcardorusinganoffsetontheshellelementswillnotchangethe
[A]matrixneithertherelationsstatedontheequationabove.

Bending:

Thematrix[D]relatesthemomentflowswiththecurvaturesonthelaminateinabsenceof
neutralaxisstrains(purebendingbehavior):

Thisexpressioncanberewrittenas:

12 1

2 2

Simplifyingandreordering:

12

ThereforetheMAT2ofthemembranebehavior(MID2field)willbe:

2 AERSYSAERONAUTICAS.L.2011Allrightsreserved

 AERSYS
AERSYS7001
KNOWLEDGEUNIT

Author: AsierRuizdeAguirreMalaxetxebarria Date: 04/01/2011
FEM X HAND LIN NOLIN BUCK FAT STATIC COMP X MET

TRANSFORMINGPCOMPTOPSHELL

12
2

UsingaZ0onthePCOMPcardwillchangethe[D]matrix (becausethebendingstiffness
will be calculated taken into account a different offset of the center of gravity of the
section regarding the nodes location) but it will not change the relation stated on the
equation above. The offset on the shell elements will not change the [D] matrix or the
equationabove.

OutofPlaneShear:

Thefollowingmatrixrelatestheoutofplane(ortransverse)shearstresseswiththeshear
deformationsonasingleply:

0

0

Whenthematrixisrotatedananglethefollowingexpressioncanbeapplied:

cos sin

sin cos

cos sin

sin cos

cos sin 0 cos sin

sin cos 0 sin cos

cos sin 0 cos sin

sin cos 0 sin cos

Thematerialstiffnessmatrixforeachplyiscalculatedas:

cos sin 0 cos sin

sin cos 0 sin cos

When combining all the ply matrices to get the equivalent laminate matrix the
contribution of each ply on each direction is different because the tangential stress
distributionthroughthethicknessisverycomplexforlaminatedcompositematerials.For
homogeneousmaterialsthisdistributionissimpler(parabolicwitha0valueattheouter
faces). The parabolic distribution on homogeneous materials leads to use a ratio of
equivalentthicknessof5/6fortransverseshear(whichisthemeanvalueofshearstress
calculatedintegratingtheshearstressthroughthethickness).

3 AERSYSAERONAUTICAS.L.2011Allrightsreserved

 AERSYS
AERSYS7001
KNOWLEDGEUNIT

Author: AsierRuizdeAguirreMalaxetxebarria Date: 04/01/2011
FEM X HAND LIN NOLIN BUCK FAT STATIC COMP X MET

TRANSFORMINGPCOMPTOPSHELL

Thewaytocombinealltheseplymatricesisverycomplex.Youcanfindtheformulationat
the Reference manual of NASTRAN >> Additional Topics >> Composites >> Transverse
ShearTheory

Youcanneglectthisoutofplaneshearstiffnessusinga0valuefortheMID3fieldofthe
PSHELLifMID2fieldhasbeenfilled(IfMID2fieldisnotenteredMID3mustbeblank).In
fact,thisistheusualsituationbecausetheoutofplaneshearflexibilityistypicallyignored.
ThePCOMPisusuallycombinedwithMAT8cardsthatnormallydonothaveG1Zand/or
G2Zdefined.Thisimpliesthattheoutofplaneshearstiffnessisinfiniteandthereforeany
transversaldeformationwillbeonlyduetobending.

UsingaZ0onthePCOMPcardorusinganoffsetontheshellelementswillnotchangethe
outofplaneshearstiffnessatall.

MembraneBendingCoupling:

Themembranebendingcouplingistheeffectofbendinggeneratedbymembraneloads.
Thishappenswhenanyofthecentersofgravityofthecrosssectionofthelaminateisnot
atthemidplaneofthelaminate(asymmetriclaminates,PCOMPSwithZ0).Whenthistakes
place,someeccentricityisincludedonthelaminateandbendingdeformationsarecreated
with axial loads (and reciprocally some axial loads can result from the application of
bendingmoment).

TheMID4fieldofthePSHELLisusedtorepresentthisbehavior.

The[B]matrixofthelaminateexpressesthecouplingas:

Or:

Inthiscaseobtainingthematerialmatrixismorecomplexbecausethestrainsdistributions
aremorecomplex(axial+bending).Thefinalresultisthat:

1
4

4 AERSYSAERONAUTICAS.L.2011Allrightsreserved

 AERSYS
AERSYS7001
KNOWLEDGEUNIT

Author: AsierRuizdeAguirreMalaxetxebarria Date: 04/01/2011
FEM X HAND LIN NOLIN BUCK FAT STATIC COMP X MET

TRANSFORMINGPCOMPTOPSHELL

ThesignminusisduetothewaythepliesareenteredonthePCOMPcard(fromlowerto
upper face) which is the contrary criterion to the one implemented on the programs
commonlyused(includingPATRAN)tocalculatethecouplingmatrix[B].

Using a Z0 on the PCOMP card will change the [B] matrix (because the bendingaxial
couplingwillbecalculatedtakenintoaccountadifferentoffsetofthecenterofgravityof
thesectionregardingthenodeslocation)butitwillnotchangetherelationstatedonthe
equation above. The offset on the shell elements will not change the [B] matrix or the
equationabove.

3. TRANSFORMINGPCOMPSTOPSHELL+MAT2ONNASTRAN

Thewaytocarryoutthistransformationisverysimple.Oncethefiniteelementmodelis
available with the PCOMP cards on it (and their related MAT cards, usually MAT8) the
ECHOcommandonthecasecontrolshallbesettopunch:

ECHO=PUNCH

Inordertoacceleratethemodelrun,allthesubcasescanberemovedfromtheNASTRAN
inputsincetheonlypurposeofthisrunistoreplicatethemodel.Thefiniteelementmodel
nowcanberunandapunchfile(withextension.pch)willbecreated.Thisfilecontainsall
thecardsthatNASTRANhasreadfromtheinputfile.Abouttheendofthepunchfilethe
conversionofthePCOMPcardsissummarized(youcanlookfortheIDofthePCOMPto
searchonespecificcard).

Onthis conversionthePCOMPcardsaretransformedinaPSHELLplusfourMAT2 cards.
Each MAT2 represents one of the four behaviors of the PSHELL properties (membrane,
bending,transverseshear,andmembranebendingcoupling).EachoftheIDfortheMAT2
generatedisrelatedwiththecorrespondingfieldofthePSHELLcard.

Thetransformationperformedinthepunchfile(PSHELL+MAT2cards)candirectlyreplace
thePCOMPdefinitionoftheoriginalinputfileofNASTRAN.Thisreplacementshouldnot
makeanydifferenceontheresultsobtainedonthefiniteelementmodel.Ofcourse,allthe
stressorstrainsrelatedwithplieswillnotbeavailablesinceconvertingthePCOMPintoits
homogeneousequivalentshellwillmisstheinformationrelatedtotheexistingplies.

When using Z0 at the PCOMP the stress/strain recovery points of the equivalent PSHELL
cardwillbemodifiedtoremainontheoutersurfacesoftheelement.

ThereforethegeneratedPSHELLandMAT2cardscanreplacethedefinitionofthePCOMP
intheNASTRANinputfileinthenextrunsallowingtheusertomanipulatetheconstantsof

5 AERSYSAERONAUTICAS.L.2011Allrightsreserved

 AERSYS
AERSYS7001
KNOWLEDGEUNIT

Author: AsierRuizdeAguirreMalaxetxebarria Date: 04/01/2011
FEM X HAND LIN NOLIN BUCK FAT STATIC COMP X MET

TRANSFORMINGPCOMPTOPSHELL

thematerialsthatdefinemoredirectlythestiffnessoftheshellelement.

6 AERSYSAERONAUTICAS.L.2011Allrightsreserved