Sub-model analysis method on strength of reinforced composite sandwich plate

  Objectives  This study aims to transform the displacement components from the cutting boundary of a global model modeled with shell and solid to the driven boundary of a submodel modeled with solid.

  Methods  First, taking a reinforced composite sandwich plate as the subject, the secondary development of ABAQUS is carried out using Python. In writing the linear interpolation program, the node degree of freedom is transformed from the shell-solid-mixed boundary to the driven boundary of the submodel. The correctness of the proposed method is then verified by comparing the stress contours, displacement contour plots and stress and displacement curves along each path between the global model and submodel.

  Results  In the submodel region, the displacement and stress contours of the two global models with coarse mesh and fine mesh are consistent with those of the submodel. The displacement of the submodel completely coincides with that of the cutting boundary of the global coarse model, and the trends of the stress curves along each path are the same. The stress error is less than 12.5% between the submodel and global fine model.

  Conclusion  The method presented in this paper provides references for the application of submodels.