December 2005 Issue

Our second CDS Newsletter has some exciting new changes with the Composites Design Software Suite which include a new Java based Application server with customer feedback features, new and more streamlined installation packages and the release of CDS-MICRO v2.0. Please read below to learn more about our new features and upgrades.

In this issue:

• Latest software updates including bug fixes, server issues, and critical updates
• CDS Software in Development

Latest Software Updates and Releases

• CDS-SERVER has being updated! The new Java based CDS Server is now online. Users of CDS software should download the latest versions of all software programs to connect with this server. In addition a new installer package has been created which will speed up installation and update transitions. Our old installer required two separate tasks to install a new upgrade. The new version will automatically update existing versions of each CDS application. To aid this process we have packaged the LabVIEW Run Time Engine as a separate installation which only needs to be installed once. (The new LabVIEW runtime engine is also a large file which prompted us to make this a single separate installation). If you do not have the run time engine installed, the CDS application will prompt the user to install this engine. It can be found at www.ni.com and on our CDS deployment page: http://www.ccm.udel.edu/Tech/Deployment.htm In addition the Java Runtime Engine needs to be installed once on your machine. It can be found at http://www.java.com/en/download/download_the_latest.jsp and on our website at the same link above. Many PC users already have this software installed on their machine to run Java based web applications. Once you have installed these two engines the CDS application installation is a quick and straightforward process. New CDS applications will automatically detect and update old versions automatically.
• Adaptive Analysis Feature Enabled! All CDS applications now have the adaptive analysis feature enabled which allows the design engineer to load and save an analysis in any CDS program. For example a micromechanics analysis can be opened in CMAP or LAM3D to do a plate or thick section analysis. A CMAP analysis can be opened in LAM3D to fully populate 3D effective properties for subsequent FEA analysis. As before, CDS Material files can be created, loaded and saved on all CDS applications and CDS Material Databases generated in CDS-MAT can be loaded into all the design applications.
• MICRO v2.0 now available! Micro v2.0 (see screenshot) can be used to model continuous, planer, particulate, porous and short fiber composites. The design engineer can adjust fiber aspect ratio, degree of axial and planer orientations and see how these parameters affect the resulting effective properties. MICRO2 can also be used to study the effect of adding filler material and can conduct a parametric analysis to study the effect of different physical and material variables on resulting properties.

Software in Development

• CDS-MDS (Moisture Diffusion Software) is a moisture diffusion analysis software program for predicting water (or solvent) uptake, diffusion and internal distribution through the thickness of multilayer composites using a finite difference solution. Inputs include material properties, boundary conditions, and layer dimensions. It will soon be made available online for researchers to use as a design tool for environmental studies.
• TEXCAD (Textile Composite Analysis for Design) is currently under development. With the growth in large scale composite structures that extensively utilize fabrics, it is important to be able to model the effective properties of these structures with variation in unit cell architecture as well as fiber and matrix properties. The TEXCAD GUI will integrate seamlessly with existing CDS applications and allow for a more comprehensive analysis of composites that utilize fabric materials.
• LAMPAT & ANSYS. A LAMPAT GUI is being developed to aid engineers in designing composite structures for FEA analysis in ANSYS. This new CDS application will integrate with all CDS applications and with ANSYS for advanced design of composite structures.

Please contact John Tierney tierney@ccm.udel.edu if you have any questions about any CDS software applications. Future CDS newsletters are also being sent with our monthly CCM newsletter.

Screenshot of CDS-MICRO v2.0

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