CATIA V5 COMPOSITE DESIGN &
MANUFACTURING PREP

5-day CATIA V5 Composite Design and Manufacturing preparation course is based on the Composite Design workbench functionality provided by the CPE & CPM products. The course will cover a complete end-to end process including taking basic input data (required thicknesses, materials, stacking sequence rules) and using it to design the plies, preparing the design for manufacture and producing a plybook, or set of flattened ply profiles in DXF or IGES file format.

The design process is covered in two stages: a “Preliminary Design” stage in which the composite part is designed at a conceptual level by defining “Zones” of uniform laminate on the reference surface, and defining transitions where the thicknesses vary; and a “Detailed Design” stage where the preliminary design data is efficiently used to create a “Stacking” of individual plies. You will also learn how to prepare the design for manufacture by analysing and modifying the plies, individually or in multiples, to design-out the potential manufacturing issues that can come from poor draping or incorrect ply stack ordering.

The Design & Manufacturing Prep (CPE & CPM & CPG) topics are covered together in this course over 5 days. This is roughly broken down (CPE) over 3 days, and Manufacturing Prep (CPM) and Composite Grid Design approach (CPG) over 2 days.

• Become familiar with the CATIA Composite Design workbench interface.
• Create a catalog of Composite materials.
• Define the composite parameters (materials, ply orientations, laminates).
• Define a zone-based preliminary design.
• Define zone laminates in MS Excel and import into the Zone definition in CATIA.
• Create solids / top surfaces from zones.
• Define the ply stacking sequence in MS Excel and import into CATIA.
• Create plies from the zone definition (with pre-defined stacking sequence), or create individual plies manually without zones.
• Define and incorporate composite cores.
• Define the ply staggering in MS Excel and import into CATIA.
• Verify the design using the Core Sampling, Ply Exploder, 3D Sectioning, and Numerical Analysis tools.
• Analyse the plies with the Producibility Analysis tool (draping analysis).
• Modify plies based on producibility analysis results.
• Engineering / Manufacturing surface swapping.
• Add excess materials to plies for edge trimming.
• Ply flattening.
• Ply book generation and export of DXF/IGS files.

Students attending this course should have knowledge of Part Design, Assembly Design, Drafting, and Wireframe & Surface Design.

Scheduled courses are available throughout the year, and can also be scheduled by arrangement for one-on-one training, group session, on-site or on-premise. Call 01993 883555 and speak to our training administrator, or send us your request below.

NOTE: Classroom Training is offered in the United Kingdom only.