For a given sampling point, the laminate properties and stiffness/compliance matrices are evaluated based on the lay-up on the shell mesh. Also, laminate forces are calculated when a sampling point is used on a solved model where nodal displacement results are available. For more information, see Classical Laminate Theory.

Coupling effects describe the relationship between laminate forces and bending moments of a composite structure caused by imbalanced laminates. Classical laminate theory (CLT), by default, uses the coupling effect to calculate the polar properties and laminate engineering constants from the laminate compliance matrix. For more information, see Analysis Options.

Acts as a cutting operation on the composite lay-up and can be defined by a geometry or a tapered edge.

A named selection of connected edges in Mechanical are transferred to ACP as an edge set, which stores the node labels of an edge and is, therefore, not associated with the geometry. You can also define an edge set manually in ACP (Pre). For more information, see Edge Sets.

A named selection of connected faces/connected elements in Mechanical are transferred to ACP as an element set, which stores the element label and is, therefore, not associated with the geometry. For more information, see Element Sets.

Associates a material with a ply, defines its thickness and optionally the fabrics cost. For more information, see Fabric.

Is used to evaluate the strength of a composite structure with respect to the different composite failure modes. A failure plot displays the critical margin to failure (reserve factors, inverse reserve factors, and margin of safety) to the first ply failure for a given failure criteria definition. For more information, see Guide to Composite Failure Criteria.

Displays the margin to failure for the first ply failure of a pre-defined failure criteria definition. For more information, see Solution Plots.

Describes the material 1 direction of a ply material and can be visualized on the composite model. For more information, see Fiber Directions.

The virtual 3D shape, and the derived subshapes, imported into ACP (Pre) to build complex laminates. For more information, see Geometry.

Defines a ply’s global position in the ply-ordering sequence. The global ply number represents the order of the plies in the modeling group. For more information, see Modeling Ply Properties.

A result type that measures the margin to failure of a composite material. For more information, see Failure Mode Measures.

The stack of plies and their sequence in ACP. For more information, see Lay-Up Plots.

The MP is internal to ACP and is the most basic definition of a ply. The production ply (PP) and analysis ply (AP) are built automatically from information placed on this level. For instance, a sub laminate is an MP and each of their materials (either fabric or stackup) displays as a PP. For more information, see Modeling Ply Properties.

Specifies the reference direction (0°) to which all MP ply angles are relative. For more information, see Oriented Selection Sets (OSS).

A mechanical property for linear elastic materials with direction-dependency. For more information, see Orthotropic Elasticity.

Composite failure criterion that evaluates the strength of a reinforced material. This criterion is available in ACP. For more information, see Puck Failure Criteria and Failure Criteria vs. Ply Type Table.

Used in pre- and post-processing to access detailed properties and results of a layup in a specific location. ACP samples through the specific element near the given coordinates to run detailed analyses (lay-up plots, through-the-thickness plots, and laminate engineering constants). For more information, see Sampling Points.

Instructions in Python code that allow for more complex model definition, parametrization, and automation in ACP. Scripts are marked for execution whenever a parameter or the script itself changes. For more information, see Scripts.

Enables you to define specific lay-up areas or ply boundaries without depending on the mesh and the geometry of the model. The selection can be combined with OSSs or MPs to define plies of arbitrary shapes. For more information, see Selection Rules.

A multiaxial stack of fabrics consisting of several plies. Typically, these layers are then stitch-bonded to form a fabric, also called a non-crimp fabric. For more information, see Stackup.

The process of progressively narrowing the thickness of an individual ply or laminate in a composite structure.

Determines the thickness definition when defining an MP.

A t-joint connects two parts at right angles. It is omnipresent in composite structures.

Composite failure criterion to evaluate the strength of reinforced materials. This criterion is available in ACP. For more information, see Tsai-Wu Failure Criterion and Failure Criteria vs. Ply Type Table.

A selection rule that is defined by a constant inner and outer radius along an edge. The longitudinal direction is defined by an edge set and the radii define the diameters of the inner and outer cylinder. Enabling Include Rule Type selects all elements between the tube's inner and outer radii. Otherwise, the elements outside the tube will be selected. For more information, see Selection Rules.

Enables you to select and group specific regions or bodies of the imported CAD geometry and use them for subsequent modeling operations. All geometry-based operations are based on virtual geometries. Virtual geometries act as a reference to one or more faces or bodies of one CAD geometry. For more information, see Virtual Geometries.

When ACP performs shape checking for element quality, solid elements with a warping factor above this user-adjustable limit are removed from the solid model. For more information, see Element Quality.

Woven fabrics consisting of fiber strands that have been woven together in two directions, also referred to as warp and weft. For more information, see Woven Composite.