4.3. Applying Material to Each Ply

  1. All elements in the top and bottom layers should have a composite material applied.

    1. Select all elements in the part using the ByPart option in general selection.

    2. Pick the part to select all elements.

    3. Specify the Material ID by clicking the link button . next to the Material ID text field.

    4. Select material 1 (composite) from the list.

    5. Click Done in the Link MAT window.

    6. We want to apply this material to ply 1 and 3, so multi-select ply 1 and ply 3 in the list. (Ctr + left mouse).

    7. Click Apply at the bottom of the Element Editing > Composite window.

  2. We will now apply the same material to the circular area of the structure for ply 2.

    1. Select ply 2 from the list.

    2. Pick Clear in general selection.

    3. Select ByElem in general selection.

    4. Select the circular area by using the Circ option in general selection.

    5. Click Apply to set material number 1 to ply 2 for these elements.

  3. The remaining elements for ply number 2 will be assigned a *MAT_NULL material as no material exists for physical ply 2 in that area.

    This step is actually optional in this case as any assigned material will be ignored anyway by LS-DYNA, if it is given a zero-thickness.

    1. Reverse the selection of elements by clicking Reverse in general selection.

    2. Change Material ID to 2 by selecting from the list of material in the same way as before.

    3. Click Apply to set material 2 to selected element for ply number 2.