Key results: 

1. Rigidity and strength of different joints during tear-off testing

2. Comparison with similar design

3. Thermal performances

The customer wanted to understand the performance of the different types of composite panel joints available on the market and improve their own joint design. Therefore, they needed to evaluate the rigidity and thermal performance through ASTM standard tests. Thanks to FEA, they want to understand more deeply the behavior of the joints to focus their efforts on the highest value design elements. 

Optimec was contacted because of its experience in FEA structural & thermal analysis and its capability to model the non-linear crushing behavior of materials like foams, due to its close partnership with the Dassault Systèmes ecosystem. 

After calibrating the model, using real-life test data from the customer, we were able to provide a simulation of the designed joint. Then, other joint geometries were simulated. Working with 3DExperience, enabled the acceleration of the comparison phase, rapidly replacing different geometries.

Main challenges related to this project:

1. Crushing of a foam material

2. Fast simulation of many different joints

3. Highly detailed features

The customer obtained insight into where the other joining options really stand, and how the new joints they developed would perform at this state of design. The second phase would be on the optimization of the joint itself, based on obtained results.