Composites are primarily used to deliver superior performance requirements , at lighter weight than would be possible with other materials. It is important to recognise that at their limit composites often do not give the warning of impending failure as clearly as their metallic counterparts. Safety is a paramount in many components and products analysed by Engenuity and this is only achievable given a thorough understanding of the materials and the mechanisms that react the applied loads.
The typical cycle for a physical safety test of ‘make it - test it -break it’ is inefficient on resources and only gives useful data at the extremes of operation and rarely gives an insight into the performance of the system in all operational scenarios. Consequently, companies often use analysis (as a virtual prototype) to help reduce the physical verification time cycle significantly, while also optimising safety.
Engenuity can often assist with not just Finite Element Analysis (FEA) but other processes such as Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and statistically forecasted reliability approaches to gain a more complete understanding of the environment, performance criteria and the manufacturing process, in order to sign-off a new design for manufacture.