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Real Time Composite Design

CDS unifies traceable material data, multiscale analysis, laminate and failure design, process simulation, optimization, and reusable engineering evidence in one environment.

Why composites? Try a live study →Get started with CDS ↗

CDS Workbench laminate optimization view with the project navigator, layup editor, carpet plot, and live laminate

CREATE

Build a starter recipe

DISCOVER

Begin the journey

SIMULATE

Launch Workbench

CREATE / Design recommendations

What would you like to make?

Choose a simple part. Start from a connected CDS exercise, then change one thing and see what happens.

1. Choose a part and loadTension panelPull along the lengthBending stripPush at the centerPressure tubePressure from inside

2. Include a process study?Explore a thermal cycle tooCompare surface and core temperatures during heating.

Start with an already-cured laminate and its mechanical response.

Teaching recommendations, not an optimized or validated part. Review material data, loads and model limits in Workbench before running.

Recommended starting point · 30 min

Laminate orientation and tensile response

Start with a flat coupon so you can see how fiber direction changes the response to a tensile force.

Open this exercise in Workbench ↗Read the exercise steps →

Connected input preview · two-row workflow. Gray blocks are not configured; this is not a solved result.

Your first design experiment

Compare symmetric cross-ply and balanced ±45° layups at the same thickness. Then add layers and compare the stiffness and mass.

Models, checkpoints and limits

Models: Classical laminate theory · Linear static · ASTM D3039-based

Geometry supplies the finite coupon width; the load is a total force.
A symmetric layup should have negligible extension–bending coupling.

ASTM-based teaching geometry, not certification. Grips, tabs, alignment and physical test validity are not simulated.

Read the model background →

Links open the shared exercise in Workbench. These website choices recommend a study; they do not modify or save a database. Editing and running remain subject to your Workbench access.

↑ Back to Create · Discover · Simulate

The workflow

From Micro to Macro all in one environment

Move between scales while preserving inputs, assumptions, methods, and results.

01 / Materials

Define constituent properties with traceable material data.

Build and compare fiber, matrix, filler, adhesive, core, vendor, and composite-system records while keeping units, source links, provenance, and editable assumptions visible.

01Source-aware records02Zero-term completion03Table and Ashby comparison

Current CDS Engineering Workbench materials library with a filled comparison table and Ashby chart

CDS / Model hierarchy

One connected model flow.
Materials to processing to design.

Follow material definitions through micromechanics, laminate construction, manufacturing response, structural analysis, and comprehensive database management through all levels.

Select a block to explore its inputs, results and theory. Run the engineering solvers in Workbench.

Materials

Traceable constituent properties

Start with source-aware elastic, strength, density and transport data. Teaching records help you explore; qualified design requires appropriate allowables.

InputFiber, matrix and coreResultTraceable constituent properties

Fatigue is optional and separate from progressive failure. An S–N life prediction is not a stiffness or strength reduction. Finite-plate CLT/FSDT and thick-wall cylinder studies have their own limits; they do not automatically include every process or failure model.

Inside CDS WB

See the design. Understand the result.

Explore connected material, laminate and load data with interactive engineering views. Follow the operating guide and model assumptions alongside each result.

Light-mode Workbench first-ply Nx–Ny failure envelope comparing Hashin, maximum strain, maximum stress, Tsai–Hill and Tsai–Wu — Compare five failure criteria → Actual Workbench capture of a 16-ply T700 teaching laminate, with mechanical loading only. First-ply initiation boundaries; 24 rays per theory. Teaching strengths, not qualified design allowables.

Actual light-mode Workbench combined membrane and bending failure result: evolving ply stress map beside through-thickness normal and shear stresses — Stretch, bend and follow damage → Actual 16-ply T700 teaching run: [Nx, Ny, Nxy] = [100, 25, 15] kN/m; [Mx, My, Mxy] = [150, −50, 25] N. All six components ramp together. Maximum-stress progression at load factor 2.061; last-ply endpoint 2.662. Mechanical loading only; teaching strengths, not design allowables.

Failure and envelopesCompare criteria, inspect progressive damage and understand load-factor limits.Optimize and preserve a studyInspect the best-found candidate, save a snapshot and compare saved cases.Live sync, with clear provenanceKnow what updates immediately and which process contributions need a new run.Equations and assumptionsTrace the material-to-response connection and the boundaries of each execution path.

Built for engineering judgment

Layered Data Management Structure

Connected engineering data

Operate the master tree, bulk moves, multi-count duplication, responsive tabs, local settings, loading, saving, and entity selection from one connected window.

Workbench simulation setup linking laminate, geometry and process records with thermal, moisture and structural analysis selections

Connected ply editor and colored laminate stack

InputEngineering inputs

ModelConnected model tree

OutputTraceable decisions

Data Management

Material property management

Create source-aware material records with constituent, transport, strength, thermoset cure, thermoplastic crystallization, and editable completion data.

T700S material editor with source provenance, elastic property inputs and material comparison outputs

Material comparison table and Ashby chart

InputFiber and matrix data

ModelProperty management

OutputReusable material record

Mechanical + thermal

Micromechanics prediction

Generate each ply’s complete 3D elastic, strength, expansion, density, and transport definition, then optimize properties against microstructure and model inputs.

Micromechanics controls with unidirectional architecture, Halpin–Tsai selection and a fiber cross-section preview

DISCOVER woven fabric GUI with repeating unit cells; illustrative geometry

InputConstituents and architecture

ModelMicromechanics prediction

OutputReusable ply properties

Constituent to ply

Laminate mechanics & failure

Route each ply independently, then couple ABD response, process residual stress, environmental loading, carpet maps, envelopes, laminate optimization, and progressive failure.

Sixteen-ply laminate editor showing solved-lamina sources, ply angles, thicknesses and the live stack

Five-criterion laminate failure envelope

InputPly models, loads, and environment

ModelCoupled progressive failure

OutputFields, properties, and events

Real Time Design

Process & environmental response

Solve steady-state or transient heat and moisture histories with independent surfaces, cure exotherm, evolving modulus, shrinkage, and process-cycle optimization.

Autoclave process editor with upper and lower boundary tabs, schedule inputs and boundary temperature profiles

Solved through-thickness temperature field

InputThermal and moisture history

ModelHeat and diffusion response

OutputThrough-thickness fields

Environmental effects

Structural performance

Evaluate supported plate, cylinder, beam, section and joint studies with explicit model limits.

Workbench Response stress view with global component curves across the laminate thickness

Real combined membrane and bending progressive failure with through-thickness stresses

InputGeometry, loading, and supports

ModelStructural mechanics

OutputStress and deformation

Factors of safety

Engineering evidence & automation

Save optimization snapshots, compare results, automate studies, and export traceable tables and model evidence to common engineering formats.

Laminate Ex–Ey carpet plot with an interactive design point and corresponding live laminate stack

InputDesign study cases

ModelAutomate and compare

OutputReports and model exports

Repeatable evidence

Integrated composite workflow

Connect materials, micromechanics, laminates, processing, structural analysis, and design decisions in one continuous engineering path.

InputMaterial and design requirements

ModelConnected CDS workflow

OutputDefensible design evidence

End-to-end engineering

User Manual

Transparent by design.

Composite decisions are only as defensible as the path behind them. CDS keeps that path visible—from source data and constitutive assumptions to every plotted field and exported value.

01Define

Materials, geometry, loads, environment

→

02Resolve

Mechanics, coupling, failure, uncertainty

→

03Decide

Trade studies, margins, reports, exports

Help center

Explore our Help Section and User Forums

Use practical guidance for setting up analyses, interpreting results, and resolving common workflow issues—or bring a specialized composite problem directly to the CDS team.

CDS User Guide

Learn the recommended sequence for defining materials, selecting a mechanics model, applying loads, and reviewing outputs.

Open the User Guide

CDS Theory Manual

Understand the theory, applicability, inputs, and limitations behind each micromechanics, laminate, and bonded-repair method.

∑ Open the Theory Manual

CDS Training Manual

Complete the shared Workbench exercises with setup guidance, specific tasks, review checkpoints, model limits and references.

Open all exercises

04Composite theory reference

Technical library

Micromechanics of Composites

Browse the complete web edition covering elastic micromechanics, textile and thermophysical behavior, damage and failure, with equations, assumptions and physical interpretations.

Elastic micromechanicsTextile & thermophysicalDamage & failure

CDS Engineering Workbench validation and model-input interface

Browse Micromechanics

0512-section web reference