Analysis of Torsion-Bending of Laminated Composite Beam by FEM using ANSYS

 Hi everyone!

i'm a researcher at the Deparment of Mechanical Engineering of University of the Philippines-Diliman. currently, i'm working on completing my thesis for my MS degree. my research area in general is in mechanics of composite materials (fiber-reinforced). my problem is that of formulating the FEM solution to the torsion-bending of laminated composite beam having orthotropic layers.

as most of us know, the torsion-bending problem is a coupled one; the problem could have been easier if it was just pure torsion or pure bending. an analytical solution of transversely-isotropic laminate beam is available already by: Demakos, C. Stress fields in fiber reinforced laminated beams due to bending and torsion moments. Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, vol.22:no.5(2003), 399-418.

the paper by Demakos would serve as my guideline and the objective of my research is to do the torsion-bending analysis by finite element method; and i intended to use ANSYS as an FEM tool. now, i'm having a technical problem in attaining my objective because i'm relatively quite new to this ANSYS thing, although i've heard a lot about it from my seniors who have been using the software. but the problem is that no one among them have been researching much about composites. although my adviser's field is in mechanics, but his current focus is on computational biomechanics.

in short: nobody could lend me support regarding my problem in my department.

to my fellow mechanicians out there:

even if you could at least help me find the most appropriate references about modelling composite in ANSYS, then i would greatly appreciate your help. i know, a documentation is available in ANSYS but there is no step-by-step procedure in doing the analysis.

best regards to everyone!

Ryan