The first category is used to constrain the overall geometry of the panel, such as the ratio of the height of the web to the width of the foot. These are typically used to ensure that tooling for the panel is feasible- as designs with particularly short/squat or tall/slender stiffeners can be filtered out automatically.
These ratios are summarized in the image below, with their corresponding equations. This screenshot is taken from the Fabrication Form, which is accessed directly from the Design Property for stiffened panel concepts.
Note
HyperX will only show the R-Ratios that are relevant to your selected concept (Metal vs. Composite, hat vs. I, etc.) in this form for clarity.
Tip
The default bounds are common to the aerospace industry but can be directly edited by the user for each design.
In the case of Composite Stiffened Panels, not only does stiffener geometry need to be considered, but also stiffener laminates. This is due to having multiple manufacturing tools and various ply packs that must be assembled and cured simultaneously. Stiffener Laminate Ratios relate the thickness of individual composite stacks in the stiffener, such as the thickness of a charge to the thickness of the base laminate. They are used to ensure that the stacks are easy to work with during assembly and cure. For example, having an excessive number of plies in the base laminate can lead to wrinkles during cure at the corners of the stiffener.
These ratios are the ones that are enforced on the Stiffener Laminate Family form.
Any laminate that does not meet the input ratio will automatically be filtered out. The "Filtered Candidate Laminates" value shown in the top right of the form are the number of laminates in the family that meet the ratio requirements, and will therefore be considered for Sizing.