Composite parts can exhibit a number of artifacts leading to local degradation of mechanical properties. Such flaws can be the result of a manufacturing process or can develop during operation. Examples of these types of flaws include voids, imperfect resin impregnation of fibers, deviation of the fiber alignment from the design angle, and resin traps.

If such artifacts are known, you can account for them using degradation factors. The typical assumption is that a degradation factor of 1.0 indicates a sound material, while a degradation factor of 0.0 implies a disintegrated material. Degradation-dependent material properties can be specified in Engineering Data.