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Posts in Category: 'Research Papers'


Mid-Stage Validation as a Process Step in Simulation V&V

Physically accurate simulation is a requirement for initiatives such as late-stage prototyping, additive manufacturing and digital twinning. The use of mid-stage validation has been shown to be a valuable tool to measure solver accuracy prior to use in simulation. Factors such as simulation settings, element type, mesh size, choice of material model, the material model parameter conversion process, quality and suitability of material property data used can all be evaluated. These validations do not use real-life parts, but instead use carefully designed standardized geometries in a controlled physical test that probes the accuracy of the simulation. With this a priori knowledge, it is possible to make meaningful design decisions. Confidence is gained that the simulation replicates real-life physical behavior. We present three case studies using different solvers and materials, which illustrate the broad applicability of this technique.

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Mechanical Plastics Rubbers Metals Structural Analysis LS-DYNA Abaqus ANSYS Research Papers Presentations Validation 3D Printing


A Standardized Mechanism to Validate Crash Models for Ductile Plastics

Quantifying simulation accuracy before running crash simulations could be a helpful confidence building measure. This study continues our development of a mechanism to validate material models for plastics used in modeling high-speed impact. Focusing on models for isotropic materials that include options for rate dependency and failure, we explore other models commonly used for ductile plastics including MAT089 and MAT187.

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Mechanical Plastics Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive Toys/Sporting Goods Packaging High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers Validation


A Design-Validation-Production Workflow for Aerospace Additive Manufacturing

With the advent of 3D printing and additive manufacturing, manufacturing designs previously thought difficult to produce can now be generated quickly and efficiently and without tooling. In the aerospace industry, weight is often tied directly to cost and is thus of great importance to any engineering design. Traditionally, the design process often involves much iteration between the designer and the analyst, where the designer submits a design to the analyst, and then the analyst completes his or her analysis and sends recommendations back to the designer. The process is repeated until a valid design meets the analysis criteria. The design is then handed to the manufacturing team which then may have additional constraints or concerns and iterations can continue. Additive manufacturing coupled with topology optimization allows the design and analysis loops and manufacturing iterations to be reduced significantly or even eliminated. The critical step is to ensure that the part will perform as simulated.

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Metals Aerospace and Defense Structural Analysis RADIOSS Research Papers Validation 3D Printing


Using an Intermediate Validation Step to Increase CAE Confidence

Simulations contain assumptions and uncertainties that a designer must evaluate to obtain a measure of accuracy. The assumptions of the product design can be differentiated from the ones for the solver and material model through the use of a mid-stage validation. An open loop validation uses a controlled test on a standardized part to compare results from a simulation to the physical experiment. From the validation, confidence in the material model and solver is gained. In this study, the material properties of a polypropylene are tested to characterize for an *ELASTIC *PLASTIC model in ABAQUS. A validation of a quasi-static three-point bending experiment of a parallel ribbed plate is then performed and simulated. A comparison of the strain fields resulting from the complex stress state on the face of the ribs obtained by digital image correlation (DIC) vs. simulation is used to quantify the simulation's fidelity.

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Plastics Plasticity Automotive Biomedical Consumer Products Material Supplier Toys/Sporting Goods Furniture Packaging Home Appliances Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis Abaqus Research Papers Validation


Numerical simulation of the laser scoring line behavior in airbag deployment

The airbag door system is one of the most delicate aspects in the design phase of a car instrument panel: seamless systems are increasingly used, which combine styling criteria with good functional performances. These systems typically include a tear seam, which may be obtained through laser scoring, to pre-determine the location of the opening during airbag deployment. The design of the scoring line is currently validated through experimental tests on real life exemplars, submitted to airbag deployment, resulting in high development times and relevant costs. This is the main reason which suggests proposing numerical simulation in the design phase, not to substitute actual part homologation by testing but in order to limit the scope and complexity of the experimental campaign, thus reducing the development costs and the time to market. So far, modeling the scoring line has been difficult due to limitations in the testing methods and simulation codes available to the industry. The methodology proposed in this paper takes advantage from the availability of a material law as LS-Dyna SAMP-1, with polymer-dedicated plasticity, damage model and strain-rate dependent failure criteria, which is supported by local strain measurement used for material characterization. The method, here described in detail, is validated on a benchmark test, consisting in the real and virtual testing on a variety of scoring profiles obtained on a polypropylene box submitted to high speed impact test.

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Plasticity Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers Validation


Characterization of Polyolefins for Design Under Impact: from True Stress/ Local Strain Measurements to the F.E. Simulation with LS-Dyna Mat. SAMP-1

Optical strain measurement for the mechanical characterization of polymers, and in particular of polyolefins, is becoming a common practice to determine the parameters to be used in a finite element analysis of crash problems. This experimental technique allows measuring the strain locally on the specimen, so that it is particularly suitable when the deformation is localized, as in the case of polymers: therefore a more accurate description of the behaviour of the material is obtained. By so doing, it is possible to describe the material constitutive law in terms of the true, local strain and of the true stress. As these data are those needed by the most complete material models developed for impact calculation, it is clear that this technique is particularly suitable for coupling with the most advanced material models currently available in the F.E. codes, as for instance with Mat 187 (SAMP-1) of LS-Dyna. The local measurement of the strain can also be used for evaluating the volume strain, whose evolution with the increasing strain shows that for PP-based material the deformation is not isochoric in most the cases. The observed increase in the material volume reflects the fact that voids generate and coalesce within the material, possibly resulting in fracture. The measure of the volume strain, computed as the trace of the strain tensor, is here used for determining the damage function utilized by the damage model implemented in SAMP-1. The effective stress is here estimated as the stress which would be measured if the deformation was isochoric, and it can be assessed on the basis of the measurement of the longitudinal local strain only. Corresponding to each value of longitudinal strain, the volume strain is then used to calculate the ratio between the effective and the true stress. Adopting this procedure, the damage function is thus determined without the needs of repeated loading-unloading tests used to derive the damage parameter from the unloading slope, which is furthermore difficult to be measured. As an application, the results of the numerical reproduction of a benchmark test, consisting in a drop test on a polypropylene box, are presented and discussed

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Mechanical Plastics Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Simulating anisotropy with Ls-dyna in glass-reinforced, polypropylene-based components

Glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene (GF PP) materials are increasingly being used by customers to replace metal and engineering polymers in structural automotive applications. Like all glass-fiber reinforced thermoplastics, GF PP products can show anisotropy caused by fiber orientation that is induced by the injection process. Taking into account fiber orientation in the simulations enables designers to improve the accuracy of the analyses. This can help prevent arbitrary choices and assumptions when setting material parameters, which become mandatory when an isotropic material law is used. The method proposed in this paper takes advantage of the availability within Ls-dyna of an anisotropic material law (MAT_103), which allows simplified modeling to address critical issues. This law was not developed to address the problem discussed here. Therefore, this paper illustrates a simplified approach. The presence of glass reinforced fibers is taken into account by running a mold-filling analysis, and then transferring the material flow orientation in to the structural simulation as a material angle. The dependence of the material failure strain on the material orientation can be also easily modeled through a user subroutine. Finally, the approach only requires simple material data based on basic tensile tests; the material law parameters are then identified through optimization techniques. Although this approach is based on some simplifying assumptions, its application is quick and can help the designer obtain more accurate results with respect to the traditional isotropic approach. A selection of validation tests is then proposed that show reliable predictions using limited additional computational effort.

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Mechanical Plastics Rate Dependency Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Caratterizzazione di materiali plastici: misure locali di deformazione per la simulazione ad elementi finiti di problemi di impatto

Questo articolo si propone di illustrare l’importanza dell’utilizzo di metodi per la misura delle proprietà locali del materiale per determinarne la legge di comportamento. Vengono di seguito presentati alcuni esempi che evidenziano quanto più accurate e realistiche siano le simulazioni numeriche di test di trazione ad alta velocità su provini di poliolefine, quando vengano utilizzate proprietà dei materiali rilevate con misure locali, utilizzando metodi ottici. La disponibilità di misure locali e più accurate evidenzia come sia necessario che nei codici di calcolo commerciali vengano implementate delle leggi di materiale più sofisticate di quelle disponibili attualmente, che sono state per lo più originariamente sviluppate per materiali metallici, e dunque non riescono sempre a predire correttamente il comportamento dei componenti in materiali polimerici.

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Mechanical Plastics Rate Dependency Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Creep modelling of Polyolefins using artificial neural networks

Notwithstanding the increasing demand for polymeric materials in an extraordinary variety of applications, the engineers have often only limited tools suitable for the design of parts made of polymers, both in terms of mathematical models and reliable material data, which together constitute the basis for a finite-elements based design. Within this context, creep modelling constitutes a clear example of the needs for a more refined approach. An accurate prediction of the creep behaviour of polymers would definitely lead to a more refined design and thus to a better performance of the polymeric components. However, a limited number of models is available within the f.e. codes, and when the model complexity increases, it becomes sometimes difficult fitting the models parameters to the experimental data. In order to predict the polymer creep behaviour, this paper proposes a solution based on artificial neural networks, where the experimental creep curves are used to determine the parameters of a neural network which is then simply implemented in an Abaqus user subroutine. This allows to avoid the implementation of a complex material law and also the difficulties related to match the experimental data to the model parameters, keeping easily into account the dependence on stress and temperature. After a discussion of the selection of the appropriate network and its parameters, an example of the application of this approach to polyolefins in a simplified test case is presented.

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Mechanical Plastics Automotive Biomedical Structural Analysis Abaqus Research Papers Validation


Enhanced Failure Prediction in Sheet Metal Forming Simulations through Coupling of LS-DYNA and Algorithm Crach

"In sheet-metal-forming the forming limit curve (FLC) is used for ductile sheets to predict fracture in deep drawing. However the use of the FLC is limited to linear strain paths. The initial FLC cannot be used in a complex nonlinear strain history of a deep drawing process or a successive stamp and crash process including a significant change in strain rate. The CRACH software has been developed to predict the forming limit of sheets for nonlinear strain paths [1]. It has been validated to predict instability for bilinear strain paths with static loading in the first path and dynamic loading in the second path for mild steels [2]. As the postprocessing of strain paths from single finite elements in CRACH is not economic for industrial applications MATFEM initiated a project to couple CRACH directly with FEM-Code LS-DYNA using a userdefined material model. This allows a prediction of possible failure during the simulation for all elements with respect to their complete strain history. A special strategy has been developed to include CRACH without extensive increase in total CPU time. The developed interface to LS-DYNA allows also the implementation of other failure criteria demanding the history of deformation like for example a tensorial fracture criterion. In order to test the reliability of the calculated safety factor experimental tests for bilinear strain paths have been simulated [2]. In this case the experimental and numerical investigations have been made on two-stage forming processes (static in the 1st stage and both static/dynamic in the 2nd stage) . The static-static case should simulate a stamping process with bilinear strain path. The static-dynamic case should simulate a successive stamp and crash process. The simulation of a complex deep drawing problem including areas with significantly nonlinear strain paths has been simulated with LS-DYNA/CRACH-coupling. It can be shown that the prediction of CRACH can differ significantely from a “standard” prediction based on the initial FLC. The coupling of LS-DYNA and CRACH showed the potential to predict possible fracture in deep drawing and crash loading at an early design stage and allowed to optimise geometry and material quality to significantly reduce later problems in real components."

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Mechanical Metals Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


A Systematic Approach to Model Metals, Compact Polymers and Structural Foams in Crash Simulations with a Modular User Material

"Today the automotive industry is faced with the demand to build light fuel-efficient vehicles while optimizing its crashworthiness and stiffness. A wide variety of new metallic and polymeric materials have been introduced to account for these increased requirements. Numerical analysis can significantly support this process if the analysis is really predictive. Within the numerical model a correct characterization of the material behaviour – including elasto-viscoplastic behaviour and failure - is substantial. The particular behaviour of each material group must be covered by the material model. The user material model MF GenYld+CrachFEM allows for a modular combination of phenomenological models (yield locus, strain hardening, damage evolution, criteria for fracture initiation) to give an adequate representation of technical materials. This material model can be linked to LS-DYNA when using the explicit-dynamic time integration scheme. This paper gives an overview on the material characterization of ultra high strength steels (with focus on failure prediction), non-reinforced polymers (with focus on anisotropic hardening of polymers), and structural foams (with focus on compressibility and stress dependent damage evolution) with respect to crash simulation. It will be shown that a comprehensive material model - including damage and failure behaviour - enables a predictive simulation without iterative calibration of material parameters. A testing programme has been done for each material group in order to allow a fitting of the parameters of the material model first. In a second step different component tests have been carried out, which were part of a systematic procedure to validate the appropriate predictions of the crash behaviour with LS-Dyna and user material MF_GenYld+CrachFEM for each material group."

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Mechanical Plastics Foams Metals Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Improved Plasticity and Failure models for Extruded MgProfiles in Crash Simulations

"The Crash Simulation of Magnesium Structures with Finite Element Methods demands the use of suitable material and failure models. An associated plasticity model describing the complex asymmetric yield behaviour in tension and compression of Mg extrusions has been developed during the InMaK-project (Innovative Magnesium Compound Structures for Automobile Frames) supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). Differences to the material model 124 in LS-DYNA are exposed. In order to describe the failure behaviour of Mg extrusions under multiaxial loading in FEM crash simulation this constitutive model has been combined with a fracture model for ductile and shear fracture. The fracture model has been added to the user defined constitutive magnesium model in LS-DYNA. The experimental investigations carried out on model components are compared with numerical derived results. Experimental methods for fracture parameter evaluation are shown and general aspects of metal failure due to fracture as well as different modelling techniques are discussed."

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Mechanical Metals Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Theoretical Development of an Orthotropic Elasto-Plastic Generalized Composite Material Model

The need for accurate material models to simulate the deformation, damage and failure of polymer matrix composites is becoming critical as these materials are gaining increased usage in the aerospace and automotive industries. While there are several composite material models currently available within LS-DYNA, there are several features that have been identified that could improve the predictive capability of a composite model. To address these needs, a combined plasticity and damage model suitable for use with both solid and shell elements is being developed and is being implemented into LS-DYNA as MAT_213. A key feature of the improved material model is the use of tabulated stress-strain data in a variety of coordinate directions to fully define the stress-strain response of the material. To date, the model development efforts have been focused on creating the plasticity portion of the model. The Tsai-Wu development efforts have focused on creating the plasticity portion of the model. The Tsai-Wu composite failure model has been generalized and extended to a strain-hardening based orthotropic material model with a non-associative flow rule. The coefficients of the yield function, and the stresses to be used in both the yield function and the flow rule are computed based on the input stress-strain curves using the effective plastic strain as the tracking variable. The coefficients in the flow rule are computed based on the obtained stress-strain data. The developed material model is suitable for implementation within LS-DYNA for use in analyzing the nonlinear response of polymer composites.

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Mechanical Plasticity Yielding/Failure analysis Aerospace and Defense Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Composites Research Papers Validation


Verification and Validation of a Three-Dimensional Generalized Composite Material Model

"A general purpose orthotropic elasto-plastic computational constitutive material model has been developed to accurately predict the response of composites subjected to high velocity impact. The three-dimensional orthotropic elasto-plastic composite material model is being implemented initially for solid elements in LS-DYNA® as MAT213. In order to accurately represent the response of a composite, experimental stress-strain curves are utilized as input, allowing for a more general material model that can be used on a variety of composite applications. The theoretical details are discussed in a companion paper. This paper documents the implementation, verification and validation of the material model using the T800-F3900 fiber/resin composite material."

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Mechanical Plasticity Yielding/Failure analysis Aerospace and Defense Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Composites Research Papers Validation


A Material Model for Transversely Anisotropic Crushable Foams in LS-DYNA

"Recently new materials were introduced to enhance different aspects of automotive safety while minimizing the weight added to the vehicle. Such foams are no longer isotropic but typically show a preferred strong direction due to their manufacturing process. Different stress/ strain curves are obtained from material testing in different directions. A new material model was added to the LS-DYNA code in order to allow a correct numerical simulation of such materials. Ease-of-use was a primary concern in the development of this user-subroutine: we required stress/ strain curves from material testing to be directly usable as input parameters for the numerical model without conversion. The user-subroutine is implemented as MAT_TRANSVERSELY_ANISOTROPIC_CRUSHABLE_FOAM, Mat law 142 in LS-DYNA Version 960-1106. In this paper we summarize the background of the material law and illustrate some applications in the field of interior head-impact. The obvious advantage of incorporating such detail in the simulation lies in the numerical assessment of impacts that are slightly offset with respect to the foam’s primary strength direction."

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Mechanical Foams Rate Dependency Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Nonlinear viscoelastic modeling for foams

Lightweight design is one of the major principles in automotive engineering and has made polymer materials to inherent parts of modern cars. In addition to their lightweight thermoplastics, elastomers, fabric and composites also incur important functions in passive safety. In the age of virtual prototyping, assuring these functions requires the accurate modeling of the mechanical behavior of each component. Due to their molecular structure, polymer materials often show viscoelastic characteristics such as creep, relaxation and recovery. However, considering the general state of the art in crash simulation, the viscoelastic characteristics are mainly neglected or replaced by viscoplastic or hyperelastic and strain rate dependent material models. This is either due to the available material models that are often restricted to linear viscoelasticity and thus cannot model the experimental data or due to the time consuming parameter identification. In this study, a nonlinear viscoelastic material model for foams is developed and implemented as a user material subroutine in LS-DYNA. The material response consists of an equilibrium and a non-equilibrium part. The first one is modeled with a hyperelastic formulation based on the work of Chang [8] and formerly implemented as *MAT_FU_CHANG_FOAM in LS-DYNA (*MAT_083). The second one includes the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior following the multiple integral theory by Green and Rivlin [9]. The polyurethane foam Confor CF-45 used as part of the legform impactor in pedestrian safety was chosen for its highly nonlinear viscoelastic properties to test the presented approach. The investigation shows the ability of the method to reliably simulate some important nonlinear viscoelastic phenomena such as saturation.

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Mechanical Foams Visco-elastic Automotive Nonlinear Material Models LS-DYNA Research Papers


Development of Material Input Data for Solid Elements under Crash Loads

"Heavy trucks have large masses and only small deformation zones. Because of this, they are loaded relatively severe in case of a crash. Under those conditions structural response is characterised not only by plastic deformation but also by failure in terms of cracks or fracture. Hence, failure prediction is essential for designing such parts. The following article describes the procedure of generating material models for failure prognosis of solid parts in the Commercial Vehicles Division at Daimler. Sheet metal parts are mostly discretised by shell elements. In this case the state of stress is characterized by hydrostatic pressure over von-Mises effective stress, the so-called triaxiality. For many real-life load cases which can be modeled by thin shells this ratio is between –2/3 and –2/3. Within this range the Gurson material model with the Tvergaard Needlemann addition leads to sufficiently accurate results. Furthermore, the Gurson material model allows considering the effect of element size, which amongst others is important for ductile materials. Most often however, in the case of solid parts the state of stress is more complex, which results in a triaxiality smaller than –1 or larger than 2/3. Gurson material models are usually validated based on shell meshes and tensile tests with flat bar specimen. If applied to solid parts, these models tend to underpredict failure . Thus, for solid parts the GURSON_JC material model is used. The Johnson Cook parameters are derived from an existing Gurson material model. Afterwards the material model is adapted to test results by modifying the load curve giving failure strain against triaxiality. This requires tensile tests"

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Mechanical Metals Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers Validation


Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Fracture in Aluminium

"To assess the problem of containment after a blade-off accident in an aero-engine by numerical simulation the FAA has instigated a research effort concerning failure prediction in a number of relevant materials. Aluminium kicked off the program which involved an intensive testing program providing failure data under different states of stress, different strain rates and different temperatures. In particular split Hopkinson bars were used to perform dynamic punch tests on plates of different thicknesses allowing to investigate the transition between different failure modes such as petaling and plugging. Ballistic impact tests were performed at NASA GRC for the purpose of validation. This paper focuses on the numerical simulation effort and a comparison with experimental data is done. The simulations were performed with LS-DYNA and a tabulated version of the Johnson-Cook material law was developed in order to increase the generality, flexibility and user-friendliness of the material model."

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Mechanical Metals Yielding/Failure analysis Aerospace and Defense High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers Validation


A Constitutive Formulation for Polymers Subjected to High Strain Rates

"Reliable prediction of the behavior of structures made from polymers is a topic under considerable investigation in engineering practice. Especially, if the structure is subjected to dynamic loading, constitutive models considering the mechanical behavior properly are still not available in commercial finite element codes yet. In our paper, we present a new constitutive law for polymers which recovers important phenomena like necking, crazing, strain rate dependency, unloading behavior and damage. In particular, different yield surfaces in compression and tension and strain rate dependent failure, the latter with damage induced erosion, is taken into account. All relevant parameters are given directly in the input as load curves, i.e. time consuming parameter identification is not necessary. Moreover, the models by von Mises and Drucker-Prager are included in the description as special cases. With the present formulation, standard verification test can be simulated successfully: tensile and compression test, shear test and three point bending tests."

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Mechanical Plastics Plasticity Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


A Comparative Review of Damage and Failure Models and a Tabulated Generalization

"Reliable prediction of damage and failure in structural parts is a major challenge posed in engineering mechanics. Although solid material models predicting the deformation behaviour of a structure are increasingly available, reliable prediction of failure remains still open. With SAMP (a Semi-Analytical Model for Polymers), a general and flexible plasticity model is available in LS-DYNA since version 971. Although originally developed for plastics, the plasticity formulation in SAMP is generally applicable to materials that exhibit permanent deformation, such as thermoplastics, crushable foam, soil and metals. In this paper, we present a generalized damage and failure procedure that has been implemented in SAMP and will be available in LS-DYNA soon. In particular, important effects such as triaxiality, strain rate dependency, regularization and non-proportional loading are considered in SAMP. All required physical material parameters are provided in a user-friendly tabulated way. It is shown that our formalism includes many different damage and failure models as special cases, such as the well-known formulations by Johnson-Cook, Chaboche, Lemaitre and Gurson among others. "

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Mechanical Plastics Plasticity Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Accuracy Issues in the Simulation of Quasi-Static Experiments for the Purpose of Mesh Regularization

Generating a LS-DYNA material model from cupon-level quasi-static experimental data, developing appropriate failure characteristics, and scaling these characteristics to mesh sizes appropriate for a variety of simulation models requires a regularization procedure. During an Investigation of an anisotropic material model for extruded aluminum, numerical accuracy issues led to unrealistic mesh regularization curves and non-physical simulation behavior. Sensitivity problems due to constitutive material behavior, small mesh sizes, single precision simulations, and simulated test velocity all contributed to these accuracy issues. Detailed analysis into the sources of innaccuracy led to the conclusion that in certain cases, double precision simulations are necesscary for accurate material characterization and mesh regularization.

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Mechanical Metals Yielding/Failure analysis Aerospace and Defense Automotive Extrusion Nonlinear Material Models LS-DYNA Research Papers


A Simplified Approach for Strain-Rate Dependent Hyperelastic Materials with Damage

"Simulation of rubber-like materials is usually based on hyperelasticity. If strain-rate dependency has to be considered viscous dampers are added to the rheological model. A disadvantage of such a description is timeconsuming parameter identification associated with the damping constants. In this paper, a tabulated formulation is presented which allows fast generation of input data based on uniaxial static and dynamic tensile tests at different strain rates. Unloading, i.e. forming of a hysteresis, can also be modeled easily based on a damage formulation. We show the theoretical background and algorithmic setup of our model which has been implemented in the explicit solver LS-DYNA [1]-[3]. Apart from purely numerical examples, the validation of a soft and a hard rubber under loading and subsequent unloading at different strain rates is shown."

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Mechanical Rubbers Hyperelastic Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


A semi-analytical model for polymers subjected to high strain rates

"Reliable prediction of the behaviour of structures made from polymers is a topic under considerable investigation in engineering practice. Especially, if the structure is subjected to dynamic loading, constitutive models considering the mechanical behaviour properly are still not available in commercial finite element codes. First, we give an overview of material laws for thermoplastics and show how the behaviour can be characterized and approximated by using visco-elasticity and metal plasticity, respectively. Experimental work is presented to point out important phenomena like necking, strain rate dependency, unloading behaviour and damage. A constitutive model including the experimental findings is derived. In particular, different yield surfaces in compression and tension and strain rate dependent failure, the latter with damage induced erosion, need to be taken into account. With the present formulation, standard verification tests can be simulated successfully. Also, an elastic damage model is used to approximate the unloading behaviour of thermoplastics adequately."

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Mechanical Rate Dependency Yielding/Failure analysis Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


The Influence of Permanent Volumetric Deformation on the Reduction of the Load Bearing Capability of Plastic Components

"During the past years polymer materials have gained enormous importance in the automotive industry. Especially their application for interior parts to help in passenger safety load cases and their use for bumper fascias in pedestrian safety load cases have driven the demand for much more realistic finite element simulations. For such applications the material model 187 (i.e. MAT_SAMP-1) in LS-DYNA® has been developed. In the present paper the authors show how the parameters for the rather general model may be adjusted to allow for the simulation of crazing effects during plastic loading. Crazing is usually understood as inelastic deformation that exhibits permanent volumetric deformations. Hence a material model that is intended to be applied for polymer components that show crazing effects during the experimental study, should be capable to produce the correct volumetric strains during the respective finite element simulation. The paper discusses the real world effect of crazing, the ideas to capture these effect in a numerical model and exemplifies the theoretical ideas with a real world structural component finite element model."

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Mechanical Plastics Rate Dependency Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Finite Element Analysis of Additively Manufactured Products

With the growing interest in 3D printing, there is a desire to accurately simulate the behavior of components made by this process. The layer by layer print process appears to create a morphology that is different from that from conventional manufacturing processes. This can have dramatic impact on the material properties, which in turn, can affect how the material is modeled in simulation. In the first stage of our work, we seek to test an additively manufactured material for mechanical properties and validate its use in ANSYS simulation using the Cornell Bike Crank model.

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Mechanical ANSYS Research Papers Validation 3D Printing


Effect of Polymer Viscosity on Post-Die Extrudate Shape Change in Coextruded Profiles

Bi-layer flow in a profile coextrusion die was simulated. Prediction of post-die changes in extrudate profile was included in the simulation. Mesh partitioning technique was used to allow the coextrusion simulation without modifying the finite element mesh in the profile die. Effect of polymer viscosities on the change in profile shape after the polymers leave the die is analyzed. It is found that a difference in the viscosities of the coextruded polymers can lead to a highly non-uniform velocity distribution at die exit. Accordingly, post-die changes in extrudate shape were found to be widely different when the polymers in the two coextruded layers were changed.

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Rheology Plastics Extrusion PolyXtrue Research Papers


Effect of Wall Slip on the Flow in a Flat Die for Sheet Extrusion

Flow in a flat die with coat hanger type of manifold is simulated allowing slip on die walls. Flow in the same die was also simulated by enforcing the no-slip condition on the walls. With slip on the die walls, the pressure drop, shear rate, stress, as well as temperature increase in the die, all were smaller than the corresponding values with no-slip condition on the walls. For the case with slip on die walls, since the shear rate is smaller, the elongation rate in the die is found to be the dominant fraction of the total strain rate. Due to its high computational efficiency, the software employed in this work can be effectively used to design extrusion dies for fluids exhibiting slip on die walls.

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Rheology Plastics Extrusion PolyXtrue Research Papers


Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Elongational Viscosity effects in a Coat-Hanger Die

The flow in a coat-hanger die is simulated using the axisymmetric and planar elongational viscosities of a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) resin. Elongational viscosity is found to affect the velocity distribution at the die exit. Also, the predicted pressure drop in the die changed significantly when the effect of elongational viscosity was included in the simulation. However, elongational viscosity had only a minor effect on the temperature distribution in the die. Predicted pressure drop is compared with the corresponding experimental data.

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Rheology Plastics Extrusion PolyXtrue Research Papers


Elongational Viscosity of LDPEs and Polystyrenes using Entrance Loss Data

For two low-density polyethylenes and two polystyrenes, axisymmetric and planar elongational viscosities are estimated using entrance loss data from capillary and slit rheometers, respectively. The elongational viscosity is estimated by optimizing the values of various parameters in the Sarkar–Gupta elongational viscosity model such that the entrance loss predicted by a finite element simulation agrees with the corresponding experimental data. The predicted entrance loss is in good agreement with the experimental data at high flow rates. The difference in the experimental and predicted entrance loss at lower flow rates might have been caused by large error in the experimental data in this range.

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Rheology Plastics Extrusion PolyXtrue Research Papers


Estimation of Elongational Viscosity of Polymers From Entrance Loss data Using Individual parameter Optimization

The elongational viscosity model proposed by Sarkar and Gupta (Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 2001, 20, 1473), along with the Carreau model for shear viscosity is used for a finite element simulation of the flow in a capillary rheometer. The entrance pressure loss predicted by the finite element flow simulation is matched with the corresponding experimental data to predict the parameters in the elongational viscosity model. To improve the computational efficiency, various elongational viscosity parameters are optimized individually. Estimated elongational viscosity for a Low Density Polyethylene (DOW 132i) is reported for two different temperatures.

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Rheology Plastics Extrusion PolyXtrue Research Papers


Estimation of Elongational Viscosity of Polymers for Accurate Prediction of Juncture Losses in Injection Molding

A new elongational viscosity model along with the Carreau-Yasuda model for shear viscosity is used for a finite element simulation of the flow in a capillary rheometer. The entrance pressure loss predicted by the finite element flow simulation is matched with the corresponding experimental data to predict the parameters in the new elongational viscosity model.

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Rheology Plastics Extrusion Injection Molding PolyXtrue Research Papers


Estimation of Elongational Viscosity Using Entrance Flow Simulation

A new elongational viscosity model along with the Carreau-Yasuda model for shear viscosity is used for a finite element simulation of the flow in a capillary rheometer die. The entrance pressure loss predicted by the finite element flow simulation is matched with the corresponding experimental data to predict the parameters in the new elongational viscosity model. For two different polymers, the predicted elongational viscosity is compared with the corresponding predictions from Cogswell’s analysis and K-BKZ model.

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Rheology Plastics Extrusion PolyXtrue Research Papers


Comparison of Crash Models for Ductile Plastics

There is interest in quantifying the accuracy of different material models being used in LS-DYNA today for the modeling of plastics. In our study, we characterize two ductile, yet different materials, ABS and polypropylene for rate dependent tensile properties and use the data to develop material parameters for the material models commonly used for plastics: MAT_024 and its variants, MAT_089 and MAT_187. We then perform a falling dart impact test which produces a complex multi-axial stress state and simulate this experiment using LS-DYNA. For each material model we are able to compare simulation to actual experiment thereby obtaining a measure of fidelity of the simulation to reality. In this way, we can assess the benefits of using a particular material model for plastics simulation.

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Mechanical Plastics Rate Dependency LS-DYNA Research Papers Validation


A Simplified Approach to the Simulation of Rubber-like Materials under Dynamic Loading

"The simulation of rubber materials is becoming increasingly important in automotive crashworthiness simulations. Although highly sophisticated material laws are available in LS-DYNA to model rubber parts, the determination of material properties can be non-trivial and time consuming. In many applications, the rubber component is mainly loaded uniaxially at rather high strain rates. In this paper a simplified material model for rubber is presented allowing for a fast generation of input data based on uniaxial static and dynamic test data."

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Mechanical Rubbers Hyperelastic Rate Dependency Automotive High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


Use of Digital Image Correlation to Obtain Material Model Parameters for Composites 

The development of material parameters for FEA is heavily reliant on precision material data that captures the stress-strain relationship with fidelity. While conventional methods involving UTMs and extensometers are quite adequate for obtaining such data on a number of materials, there are important cases where they have been known to be inadequate. The testing of composites to obtain directional properties remains a complex task because of the difficulty related to measuring these properties in different orientations. Digital Image Correlation (DIC) methods are able to capture the stress-strain relationship all the way to failure. In this paper, we combine DIC and conventional methods to measure directional properties of composites. We exploit the unique capability of DIC to retroactively place virtual strain gauges in areas of critical interest in the test specimen. Utilising an Iosipescu fixture, we measure shear properties of structured composites in a variety of orientations to compute the parameters of an orthotropic linear elastic material model. Model consistency is checked by validation using Abaqus.

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Aerospace and Defense Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis Abaqus Composites SIMULIA Research Papers


Applying Digital Image Correlation Methods to SAMP-1 Characterization 

SAMP-1 is a complex material model designed to capture non-Mises yield and localization behavior in plastics. To perform well, it is highly dependent on accurate post-yield material data. A number of assumptions and approximations are currently used to translate measured stress-strain data into the material parameters related to these inputs. In this paper, we look at the use of direct localized strain measurements using digital image correlation (DIC) as a way to more directly extract the required data needed for SAMP-1.

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Plastics Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis LS-DYNA Composites Research Papers


The Need for Simulation-Quality Material Data

Material testing for simulation is about understanding how to best describe a material’s behavior as input for the CAE code. Such testing requires expertise and experience beyond testing performed in a typical test laboratory; while the test instruments may be the same, the knowledge of CAE and experience with diverse materials is increasingly important. FEA software such as ANSYS is being increasingly used for non-linear simulations. We discuss how DatapointLabs' uncommon material expertise helps you avoid problems when the data is being generated these applications.

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Research Papers


Characterization of Damage in Hyperelastic Materials Using Standard Test Methods and Abaqus

Over the past couple of decades, standard test methods and material models have existed for rubber-like materials. These materials were classified under the category of Hyperelastic materials. Well established physical test methods and computational procedures exist for the characterization of the material behavior in tension, compression, shear volumetric response, tear strength etc. However, effective modeling of the fracture behavior of hyperelastic materials using finite element techniques is very challenging. In this paper, we make an attempt to demonstrate the use of such standard test methods and the applicability of such test data for performing finite element analyses of complex nonlinear problems using Abaqus. Our goal is to demonstrate the effective use of standard physical test data to model multi-axial loading situations and fracture of hyperelastic materials through tear tests and indentation test simulations.

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Rubbers Material Supplier Industrial Goods Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis Abaqus Research Papers


A Robust Methodology to Calibrate Crash Material Models for Polymers

High strain rate material modelling of polymers for use in crash and drop testing has been plagued by a number of problems. These include poor quality and noisy data, material models unsuited to polymer behaviour and unclear material model calibration guidelines. The modelling of polymers is thus a risky proposition with a highly variable success rate. In previous work, we tackled each of the above problems individually. In this paper, we summarize and then proceed to present a material modelling strategy that can be applied for a wide variety of polymers.

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Mechanical Plastics Aerospace and Defense Automotive Consumer Products Material Supplier Industrial Goods Packaging Home Appliances High Speed Testing Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis LS-DYNA Abaqus ANSYS MSC.DYTRAN PAM-CRASH RADIOSS Research Papers


Selecting Material Models for the Simulation of Foams 

We seek to lay down a framework to help us understand the different behavioral classes of foams. Following a methodology that we previously applied to plastics, we will then attempt to propose the right LS-DYNA material models that best capture these behaviours. Guidelines for model selection will be presented as well as best practices for characterization. Limitations of existing material models will be discussed.

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Foams Automotive Consumer Products Material Supplier Packaging Home Appliances High Speed Testing Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis LS-DYNA Abaqus ANSYS MSC.DYTRAN Research Papers


Simulating Plastics in Drop and Crash Tests 

If you want a crash simulation involving plastics to yield useful results, it is important to model the material behavior appropriately. The high strain rates have a significant effect on the properties, and failure can be ductile or brittle in nature, depending on a number of factors.

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Plastics Aerospace and Defense Automotive Biomedical Consumer Products Material Supplier Toys/Sporting Goods Industrial Goods Packaging High Speed Testing Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis LS-DYNA Abaqus ANSYS MSC.DYTRAN PAM-CRASH RADIOSS Research Papers


Characterization and Modeling of Non-linear Behavior of Plastics 

A considerable amount of CAE today is devoted to the simulation of non-metallic materials, many of which exhibit non-linear behavior. However, most material models to date are still based on metals theory. This places severe restrictions on the proper description of their behavior in CAE. In this paper, we describe non-linear elastic behavior and its interrelationship with plastic behavior in plastics. Special attention is given to the differentiation between visco-elastic (recoverable) strain and plastic (non-recoverable) strain. The goal of this work is to have a material model for plastics that can describe both loading and unloading behavior accurately and provide an accurate measure of damage accumulation during complex loading operations.

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Plastics Rubbers Aerospace and Defense Automotive Biomedical Consumer Products Material Supplier Toys/Sporting Goods Packaging Home Appliances Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis Abaqus Research Papers


Methodology for Selection of Material Models for Plastics Impact Simulation 

The volume of plastics that are subjected to impact simulation has grown rapidly. In a previous paper, we discussed why different material models are needed to describe the highly varied behavior exhibited by these materials. In this paper, we cover the subject in more detail, exploring in depth, the nuances of commonly used LS-DYNA material models for plastics, covering important exceptions and criteria related to their use.

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Plastics Aerospace and Defense Automotive Consumer Products Material Supplier Industrial Goods Packaging Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis LS-DYNA Abaqus ANSYS PAM-CRASH RADIOSS Research Papers


Methodology for Selection of Material Models for Plastics Impact Simulation

The volume of plastics that are subjected to impact simulation has grown rapidly. In a previous paper, we discussed why different material models are needed to describe the highly varied behavior exhibited by these materials. In this paper, we cover the subject in more detail, exploring in depth, the nuances of commonly used LS-DYNA material models for plastics, covering important exceptions and criteria related to their use.

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Plastics High Speed Testing LS-DYNA Research Papers


A Novel Technique to Measure Tensile Properties of Plastics at High Strain Rates

High strain-rate properties have many applications in the simulation of automotive crash and product drop testing. These properties are difficult to measure. These difficulties result from inaccuracies in extensometry at high strain rates due to extensometer slippage and background noise due to the sudden increase in stress at the start of the test. To eliminate these inaccuracies we use an inferential technique that correlates strain to extension at low strain rates and show that this can be extended to measure strain at higher strain rates

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Mechanical Plastics Rate Dependency Aerospace and Defense Automotive Consumer Products Material Supplier Toys/Sporting Goods Packaging Home Appliances High Speed Testing Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis LS-DYNA Abaqus ANSYS MSC.DYTRAN PAM-CRASH Research Papers


Practical Issues in the Development and Implementation of Hyperelastic Models

Hyperelastic models are used extensively in the finite element analysis of rubber and elastomers. These models need to be able to describe elastomeric behavior at large deformations and under different modes of deformation. In order to accomplish this daunting task, material models have been presented that can mathematically describe this behavior [1]. There are several in common use today, notably, the Mooney-Rivlin, Ogden and Arruda Boyce. Each of these has advantages that we will discuss in this article. Further, we will examine the applicability of a particular material model for a given modeling situation.

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Rubbers Foams Aerospace and Defense Automotive Biomedical Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis Abaqus ANSYS SOLIDWORKS MSC.MARC NX Nastran Research Papers


High Speed Stress Strain Material Properties as Inputs for the Simulation of Impact Situations

With the recent changes in the crashworthiness requirements for US automobiles for improved safety, design engineers are being challenged to design interior trim systems comprised of polymeric materials to meet these new impact requirements. Impact analysis programs are being used increasingly by designers to gain an insight into the final part performance during the design stage. Material models play a crucial role in these design simulations by representing the response of the material to an applied stimulus. In this work, we seek to develop novel test methods to generate high speed stress-strain properties of plastics, which can be used as input to structural analysis programs...

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Plastics Metals Aerospace and Defense Material Supplier Toys/Sporting Goods Packaging Home Appliances High Speed Testing Nonlinear Material Models Structural Analysis Thermoforming LS-DYNA Abaqus ANSYS MSC.DYTRAN PAM-CRASH Research Papers