A Laminate Family is a collection of Laminates that all share the same Main Stacking Sequence (MSS), with each family member (Candidate Laminate) being a subset of that sequence. In the example below, the column highlighted in red represents the MSS, and each subsequent column is a Laminate that belongs to that Family. Laminates are made up of Plies, which are numbered by their sequence in the stack. Each sequence represents an individual layer that enables identifying continuous Plies across Zone surfaces.
When a Laminate Family is selected as a Sizing variable, each Laminate in the Family becomes a Sizing Candidate. The MSS ensures that all Laminates are compatible with one another, and the drop pattern pre-defines the Ply transitions from one Laminate to another when Sequencing to a set of global Plies. So, Sizing with Laminate Families typically allows for a more manufacturable design in less steps.
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Laminate Families are the primary way to size Laminates. HyperX is able to generate candidate Main Stacking Sequences (MSS) that represent all discrete Laminate solutions (ply layups) from Zone or Element Sizing results. Candidate Laminates within the columns conform to all user-defined Layup Rules. Read more here.
To "create" a Laminate Family is to manually define the Main Stacking Sequence (MSS) and corresponding Family Members from scratch. This involves creating individual Plies (rows) and Laminates (columns). This is particularly advantageous if your team or program already has a standard Laminate Family.
Option #1: Create Laminate Family from the Ribbon
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Launch the Laminate Family creation form from either the Material or Composites tab of the Ribbon
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Use the space at the top of the form to give the Laminate Family a name.
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Define the MSS by defining individual Layers (rows).
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Define Laminate columns corresponding to the MSS. This can be done in two ways:
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Manually, using the add column option and populating accordingly.
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Automatically by expanding the 'Enable automated tools' option. From here, select the desired Ply Drop Patterns and allow HyperX to generate the Laminate columns accordingly. For more information, see Step #4 of Generating Laminate Family(s) from Sizing Results
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Once all rows and columns have been defined, click 'apply' to save the new Laminate Family to the Database.
Option #2: Create Laminate Family from the Library
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Launch the Laminate Family creation form from the Laminate Family Library
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Use the space at the top of the form to give the Laminate Family a name.
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Define the MSS by defining individual Layers (rows).
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Define Laminate columns corresponding to the MSS. This can be done in two ways:
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Manually, using the add column option and populating accordingly.
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Automatically by expanding the 'Enable automated tools' option. From here, select the desired Ply Drop Patterns and allow HyperX to generate the Laminate columns accordingly. For more information, see Step #4 of Generating Laminate Family(s) from Sizing Results
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Once all rows and columns have been defined, click 'apply' to save the new Laminate Family to the Database.
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Generated Families have stacking sequences and ply counts that are tuned to provide low weight and manufacturable solutions for specific Zones or Structures. Read more in the context of the larger workflow here.
From Angle Targets
Objective: Automatically generate Laminate Family(s) by defining Ply Angle and MSS count targets.
In many cases, programs have very specific laminate Ply Angle % and Layup Rule requirements. Or perhaps there is an interest in implementing double-double laminates, rather than the traditional 0/45/90. In these cases, it may be beneficial to skip any preliminary Sizing and go straight to Sizing with a Laminate Family. This requires generating Laminate Family(s) based solely on the rules defined, rather than any existing entities (Sizing results, FEM imported Laminates, Plies).
Step #1: Open the Laminate Family Generator
Generating Laminate Family(s) from angle targets is an option that can be reached from both the Material and Composite Tabs of the Ribbon. The image below shows the Material tab.
Clicking this button will open the Laminate Family Generator form - an example of which is shown below:
Step #2: Select a Composite Material
At the top of the generator form, use the "..." button to open the Composite Material Library. Select the Material you'd like to comprise the generated Laminate Family(s).
Step #3: Choose Between Traditional Laminates or Double-Doubles and Fill-in Inputs Accordingly
Use the tabs at the top of the form to select between Traditional (0/45/90) Laminates or Double-Doubles. Notice that
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Traditional Laminates - The Traditional Laminate Family Generator takes inputs that are similar to those on Composite Design Properties. This includes constraints for Ply Angle %, Layup Rules, and Fabrication rules (see "Sizing Options" here). In addition, you are asked to provide:
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A preference between a homogeneous stacking sequence, or one that includes particular ply angles on the outer layers.
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A target MSS Ply Count (i.e. what is the maximum amount of Plies you'd like in your Laminate Family(s)?)
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Percentage bounds and corresponding step size for each Ply Angle. Similar to Effective Laminate Generation, this generator will create all combinations of Laminate Families that fall within the defined Ply Angle Percentage bounds.
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Ply Drop Pattern preferences. Just as with the 'normal' Laminate Family Generator, multiple drop patterns can be selected here.
Note
The number of Candidate Families results from the number of combinations defined in the Angle Percentages table, multiplied by the number of Drop Patterns selected.
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Double-Double Laminates - Double-Double Laminate Family Candidates are defined by only three inputs:
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A target MSS Ply Count (i.e. what is the maximum amount of Plies you'd like in your Laminate Family(s)?)
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Ply angles φ and ψ, which correspond to the angles required to satisfy Tsai's double-double stacking sequence definition: [φ/−ψ/−φ/ψ]rT
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Ply Drop Patterns (Note: per double-double rules, plies will always be dropped 4 at a time. These drop patterns determine the locations in which that happens with respect to other Laminates in the Family).
Note
The number of Candidate Families results from the number of combinations defined in the Angles table, multiplied by the number of Drop Patterns selected.
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Step #4: Generate Laminate Family(s)
Click 'Generate' at the bottom of the form to generate all Candidate Families.
Unlike other Laminate Family generation processes, these Families will be generated "in the background" (i.e. not in the form directly in front of the user). But, it is still worth noting the two steps used to generate each Candidate Laminate:
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MSS Generation - The algorithm for MSS generation in this case is similar to the Stiffened Laminate (default) used by other Laminate Family Generation Processes (image below). However, the user-input stacking sequence preferences are used instead of putting the orientations with the highest ply count on the outside of the MSS.
Tip
For Double-Doubles, the MSS is even more straight forward, as it is a repeat of the pattern [φ/−ψ/−φ/ψ] until the MSS Count Target is reached.
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Define laminates according to selected Drop Patterns using Ply Dropper - One Laminate Family will be generated for each pattern selected. The Drop Patterns are described below:
Step #5: Review Generated Laminate Family(s) from the Library
All Candidate Laminate Families that were defined in the generator will appear in the Laminate Family Library and can each be individually reviewed accordingly.
From FEM-Imported Laminates
Objective: Reverse-engineer a Laminate Family from the Laminates imported from a FEM.
In many cases, the Laminates defined in the FEM are representative of those that are considered 'acceptable' by the program. However, even with predefined Laminates, there is likely still room for Sizing in terms of which Zones are assigned which Laminates. In this case, it is beneficial to reverse engineer a Laminate Family - which can be used for Sizing - from existing Laminate definitions coming from the FEM.
Note
This process is considered a 'special circumstance' of the more typical Laminate Family Generation from Sizing Results and is an extenuation of Analyzing an As Modeled Design.
Prerequisites
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The HyperX Database should contain a Composite Material definition for each Material that is included in a Laminate FEM definition. Materials can be manually created or imported from either the FEM or Excel.
Tip
Best practice is to ensure that the HyperX Material definitions have FEM Material IDs that correspond to the correct MAT IDs found in the FEM so they can be automatically synced during FEM import and later Structure creation.
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Import a FEM into the Database.
Step #1: Create a Structure
Follow the process to Create a Structure. During Structure creation, select the option to "Assign Designs." A Laminate will be automatically created and appropriately assigned, corresponding to the Laminate/Element Definition in the FEM.
Step #2 (optional): Import or Link Materials
Importing Properties from the FEM requires that the Material referenced by the property also exists in the HyperX Database. Once the previous step is complete, HyperX will look in the Database for a Material that has a FEM Material ID field that matches the ID in the FEM. If one is found then that Material will be associated with the imported Design Property (which is why this is a recommended prerequisite, above). If not, then the prompt below will appear.
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Select - Opens the Material Library to choose an existing Material in the Database to link to the FEM material. Once a Material is selected, the FEM Material ID field will be updated to match that shown in the FEM.
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Create - Opens a Material form with fields pre-populated with Material data read from the FEM. Fill in any missing data and save the Material.
Note
The status on the form will update once either of the above actions has been performed to indicate how the Material was linked. The linking form can then be closed, and the imported Design Properties will be created. Imported entities can be viewed in the Property Tree.
Step #5: Select Zones/Elements and Open the Laminate Family Generator
Select all Zones or Elements whose results should be considered for Laminate Family generation. Once you have your selection, the Laminate Family generator can be opened in several ways. Most generally:
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From the Composites tab of the Ribbon.
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By 'Enabling Automated Tools' from the Create Laminate Family form.
Step #6: Generate the Main Stacking Sequence (MSS)
The MSS algorithm should be set to the default, Stiffened Laminate. Then click 'Generate main sequence.'
In this case, when you push the 'Generate main sequence' button, HyperX is using an algorithm that aggregates all of the discretely-defined laminates from the FEM, rather than generating a brand new MSS from 'scratch.' This doesn't match any of the MSS generation algorithms listed in the dropdown.
The resulting MSS will populate in columns A-G
Step #7: Generate Laminates in the Family
Laminates can only be generated after configuring the Ply Dropper for desired stacking options and permutations.
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Set the Base-Name for the Laminate Family(s).
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Specify the Drop Pattern settings using the dropdown options.
Note
The standard Drop Pattern settings allow multiple patterns to be selected (but do not require it)
One Laminate Family will be generated for each pattern selected. The Drop Patterns are described below:
Tip
Additional permutations of these Drop Patterns can be generated by enabling the "Midplanes" or "Ply Skip" options. These options generate additional Laminate Families with some of the Family sequences removed to explore weight savings. These options are appropriate when generating Laminate Families for a Design Study with Solid Laminate or Sandwich Zones.
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Generate the Laminate Family(s). If multiple Families are generated, they will appear in the list on the left side of the form to be reviewed and saved.
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Save all desired Laminate Families to the Database.
Note
All Families generated will be original Laminates to the FEM. The FEM Property ID corresponding to each Laminate becomes the sequence number in the family.
From Plies
Objective: Reverse-engineer a Laminate Family from Plies that belong to a Structure.
Generate a new Laminate Family and assign to Zones based on the Plies in the Ply Manager. These Plies may have been imported from CAD or created/generated by other methods. Each Sequence will be a layer in the Laminate Family’s MSS. Every unique stack generated by various Ply coverages will be a Candidate Laminate in the Family.
Step #1: Open Ply Manager
Select the Plies that you'd like to include in the generated Laminate Family. Once Plies are selected, the Ply Manager becomes available on the Composites Tab of the Ribbon:
Click to open the Ply Manager. Notice the Ply Manager contains the Plies for all parts of the Structure - in the Sandwich below, it contains the Plies corresponding to the Bottom Face, Top Face, and Core.
Step #2: Generate Laminate Family
Generate a Laminate Family by clicking the button on the top right-hand corner of the form.
After clicking 'Generate' you'll be asked to name your Laminate Family. Do so, then click 'Generate.'
Note
If there are multiple objects with Plies, such as with the Sandwich example here, a Laminate Family will be created for each object. One for each facesheet in this case.
The algorithm for generating the MSS and corresponding Laminates is not the same as other Laminate Family Generation approaches. Here, each sequence in the Ply Manager becomes a row in the MSS and then the Family members are populated based on the Laminates that appear on each Zone due to the Ply coverage.
Step #3: Review Generated Laminate Family(s) from the Library
The Laminate Family(s) that were defined in the generator will appear in the Laminate Family Library and can each be individually reviewed accordingly.
From Sizing Results
Objective: Produce a Laminate Family from Sizing results for either Zones or Elements.
The primary drawback of Sizing with Laminate Families is that they can result in higher weight than a “free” Sizing, where each Zone in a Structure can choose a Laminate that has been developed specifically for the loads in that Zone. HyperX addresses this shortcoming by piggy-backing off of preliminary Sizing results to produce a Structure-specific Laminate Family. This is done by aggregating preliminary Sizing results for each Zone and generating a MSS that incorporates those solutions, followed by the Ply Drop generation which populates the family.
Note
The resulting Laminate Family is "tuned" for the Zones/Elements that were used for generation.
Step #1: Select Zones/Elements and Open the Laminate Family Generator
Select all Zones or Elements whose results should be considered for Laminate Family generation. Once you have your selection, the Laminate Family generator can be opened in several ways. Most generally:
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From the Composites tab of the Ribbon.
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By 'Enabling Automated Tools' from the Create Laminate Family form.
Step #2: Review Generator Starting Point
Once the generator is open, review the upper-lefthand-side. You should see the list of Zones/Elements selected, and the corresponding Design Properties associated with them. In the next two sections, you'll notice that the Ply Angle Percentage boundaries and Layup Rules have been inherited from the aforementioned Design Properties. They can be edited here, however, if needed.
Step #3: Generate the Main Stacking Sequence (MSS)
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Select a method for MSS generation from the drop-down.
The table below indicates which methods are compatible with the various composite concepts available in HyperX, for each Sizing Mode. "DS with ELs" indicates Detailed Sizing with Effective Laminates and "DS with DLs" indicates Detailed Sizing with Discrete Laminates.
Description of MSS generation methods:
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Unstiffened Laminate - Uses stacking sequence information from the selected Zones to generate an MSS that is tuned for those Zones. For example, if the majority of selected Zones have a high number of 45° Plies near the outside of the Laminate then the resulting MSS will reflect that trend. Another feature of this MSS method is that the Rapid Sizing Laminate for each Zone is a subset of generated MSS. This often results in an MSS that is 1.5-2X thicker than the thickest input Zone. However, this is not a problem for with the resulting Laminate Family because Detailed Sizing will just not use the thicker Laminates in the Family.
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Homogenized Unstiffened Laminate - Similar objective to the method above, but with a different algorithm. This method attempts to smooth out the distribution of different ply orientations through the thickness of the MSS using histograms of ply orientation placement collected from all of the input Zones.
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Stiffened Laminate (Default) - Uses only ply count information from the selected Zones to generate an MSS that is tuned for those Zones. If the selected Zones have a higher percentage of 0° Plies for example, the resulting MSS will also have a higher percentage of 0° Plies (Zones are weighted based on area and thickness). This method will put the most prevalent ply orientations towards the outsides of the Laminate.
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Homogenized Stiffened Laminate - Similar objective to the above, except that this method attempts to homogenize the stacking sequence. For example, if all of the selected Zones happened to have an equal count of 0°, +45°, -45°, and 90° Plies, then the MSS would have a repeating pattern of [0/45/-45/90] throughout.
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Specify settings for MSS generation. When Zones are selected with either sandwich designs or a combination of solid laminate and sandwich designs, the following settings will become available under the MSS generation drop-down button.
These settings allow the user to control how the top and bottom facesheets are generated for a sandwich. The first option assumes that the resulting laminate family will be assigned to both the top and bottom facesheet of the sandwich. The second option will generate two Laminate Families in the scenario where one facesheet is desired to be thicker than the other. The ratio of max thickness of the two Families can be specified in the input field.
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Generate the MSS by clicking 'Generate'.
The resulting MSS will populate in columns A-G.
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Use the editor tools to adjust the MSS as desired (add Plies, change angles, etc.).
Step #4: Generate Laminates in the Family
Laminates can only be generated after configuring the Ply Dropper for desired stacking options and permutations.
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Set the Base-Name for the Laminate Family(s).
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Specify the Drop Pattern settings using the dropdown options.
Note
The standard Drop Pattern settings allow multiple patterns to be selected (but do not require it)
One Laminate Family will be generated for each pattern selected. The Drop Patterns are described below:
Tip
Additional permutations of these Drop Patterns can be generated by enabling the "Midplanes" or "Ply Skip" options. These options generate additional Laminate Families with some of the Family sequences removed to explore weight savings. These options are appropriate when generating Laminate Families for a Design Study with Solid Laminate or Sandwich Zones.
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Generate the Laminate Family(s). If multiple Families are generated, they will appear in the list on the left side of the form to be reviewed and saved.
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Save all desired Laminate Families to the Database.
An existing Laminate Family is edited when columns are added/removed, rows are added/removed, the sequential line-up of the rows is altered, or individual row properties (thickness, material, and angle) are changed. All of these operations can be done either directly in HyperX from the Laminate Family Form or in Excel spreadsheet (and reimported).
Option #1: Edit From Laminate Family Form
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Launch the Laminate Family Library by double clicking on the 'Laminate Families' node in the Library of the Property Tree.
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Select the Laminate Family desired to edit and click 'Edit'.
Tip
An individual Laminate Family Editor form can also be accessed from a selected Zone's Design Result. This is the quickest way to open a Laminate Family that has been used for Sizing.
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In the resulting Laminate Family Form, edit the Family as desired.
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Click 'Apply' to save any changes made under the same Laminate Family name or click 'Save As...' to save the edited version as a new Family.
Option #2: Edit In Excel
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Launch the Laminate Family Library by double clicking on the 'Laminate Families' node in the Library of the Property Tree.
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Select the Laminate Family desired to edit and click 'Edit'.
Tip
An individual Laminate Family Editor form can also be accessed from a selected Zone's Design Result. This is the quickest way to open a Laminate Family that has been used for Sizing.
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In the resulting Laminate Family editor, choose the 'Edit in Excel' option on the top of the form.
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Edit Laminate Family by editing the corresponding cells in the resulting spreadsheet:
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When finished making edits, click 'save' on the Excel file. Then, proceed back to HyperX and click 'Read from Excel' from the Laminate Family form.
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Notice all changes made in the spreadsheet are now shown in the Laminate Family form. Click 'Apply' to save any changes made under the same Laminate Family name or click 'Save As...' to save the edited version as a new Family.
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Existing Families can be imported to HyperX and used for Composite Optimization. Read more in the context of the larger workflow here.
Laminate Families can be imported from Excel spreadsheets that have been formatted to match the HyperX Laminate Family format, which is shown in the image below. Rather than formatting the spreadsheet from scratch, it is often easier to Export a Laminate Family from HyperX to create a template for the spreadsheet. The exported spreadsheet can be populated with the user's Laminate Family and then imported.
There are three locations in HyperX where Laminate Families can be imported:
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Laminate Family Form - Click the "Import from Excel" button.
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Laminate Family Library - Click the "Import" button at the bottom of the form.
Laminate Families can be exported as an Excel spreadsheet to be exchanged or reviewed outside of HyperX. There are three locations in HyperX where this export can be performed:
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Laminate Family Form - Click the "edit in Excel" button. This will automatically open the Laminate Family in Excel, where it can then be edited and saved wherever the user chooses. Note that saving the spreadsheet in a new location or with a new name will disable the "read from Excel" function on the form because HyperX no longer knows the location of the file.
Important
Do not rename or move the spreadsheet if the intent is to only make edits in Excel and read them back into the Laminate Family form.
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Laminate Family Library - Click the "export" button at the bottom of the form. The user will be prompted for a name and location for the Excel file. If multiple Families are selected, they will be exported as separate sheets within the same Excel file.
Any Laminate Family definition can be deleted from the Laminate Family Library.
Important
A Laminate Family cannot be deleted if it is being referenced by a Design Property. In order to delete a Laminate Family, it must be completely dissociated from all Design Properties.
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Launch the Laminate Families Library by double clicking on the 'Laminates' node in the Library of the Property Tree.
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Select all Laminate Families desired to remove.
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Click 'Delete' in the bottom of the Library form to delete selected Laminate Families.