Layered Material Link

The node (

) provides a bridge from a Layered Material, located under , to a physics feature residing in a component. A physics feature designed to work with layered materials cannot directly reference a . The node is located in the submenu under a node.

Layered Material Settings

Select a layered material from the list. You can also select a Switch for Materials.

By clicking the (

) button, you can jump to the settings for the selected material.

Click the button (

) to add another or a . The added material then becomes the one selected in the list.

From the list, choose one of the following options:

•

(the default), for no transformation.

•

or , to create a symmetric or antisymmetric layered material when the information of layers of one side of the midplane is supplied. Choose which side to mirror in from the list: (the default) or . Upside means that the symmetry layers are on the top of the original layers. The symmetry line is the top-side boundary. Downside means that the symmetry layers are on the bottom of the original layers. The symmetry line is the bottom-side boundary. Select the check box to merge the two middle layers into one to create an odd symmetric layer.

•

, to create a number of repeating stacks, which you enter in the field (default: 1).

Select the check box to scale the layered material’s thickness with a factor (default: 1).The scale can be a numerical value, a parameter, or an expression. Such an expression can, for example, be a function of the coordinates so that a surface with variable thickness can be described.

If a single layer in a laminate has a variable thickness, you can define that layer in either a separate or in a .

•

When using a , apply the scaling expression in a , and then use a to build the complete laminate.

•

When using a with an expression for the thickness, use a to build the complete laminate.

If you have defined a layer with a scaling factor, it appears in the preview window with a darker color than a nonscaled layer.


	The preview is not shown in the base geometry space, so it will not show any geometrical dependency.

The labels of the newly created layers include a suffix to distinguish them from the original layers:

•

for the symmetric layers.

•

for the antisymmetric layers.

•

for the repeated layers (number X).

Click the button (

to plot a preview of the layer cross section including the transformation (see the following plot for an example).

Figure 9-11: A repeat laminated stacks with 2 times repeated layers.

You can also click the downward pointing arrow to choose (

) or (

), which adds the preview plot as a new plot group under .

Click the button (

) to get a preview of the stack with the transformation.

Orientation and Position

Select a defining the principal directions of the laminate. The orientation of each layer, given in the node, is a rotation from the first coordinate axis of this coordinate system. Only coordinate systems can be selected.

Choose a — , , , or . This controls the possible offset of the layered material from the geometrical boundary on which the mesh exists (the reference surface). For , enter a value for the . The value 1 corresponds to , and the value −1 corresponds to . Values can be outside the range −1 to 1, in which case the reference surface is outside the laminate.

The setting is only used by physics features where the physical behavior depends of the actual location, such as structural shells.

By clicking the (

) button, you get a preview plot of the layered material, including the location of the reference surface (Figure 9-12). The height of the laminate in the plot is controlled by the value of the specified in the for the selected layered material. You can also click the downward pointing arrow to choose (

) or (

), which adds the preview plot as a new plot group under .

Figure 9-12: Layer cross section preview plot with relative offset set to 0.5.

Nonlayered Material Settings

In some cases, a single standard material definition is needed on the same boundary as a layered material. This can, for example, be the case if two different physics interfaces are active on the same boundary, but only one of them supports a layered material definition. You can select any nonlayered material from the list. The default settings is , which means that the nonlayered material properties are computed as an average value of the layer’s material properties. This selection is completely analogous to using a Material Link.


	You cannot use an ordinary Material or Material Link with the same selection as the Layered Material Link. These nodes override each other.

By clicking the (

) button, you can jump to the settings for the selected material.

Click the button (

) to add a global material from the material libraries or a new blank global material. The added material then becomes the one selected in the list.

Preview Plot Settings

In this section, you can fine-tune the display in the preview plot.

The value of the controls the height in the y direction. The width is always unity.

Deselect the check box to remove the text labels showing layer names and materials.

Material Contents

See the documentation for Material Contents for the node.

The column will usually contain the string Layer, indicating that the actual value is layer dependent.

Appearance

See the documentation for Appearance for the node.