Understanding Orthotropic Behavior — Lesson 1

There are different types of materials around us. One of the ways in which these materials can be classified is based on how their properties change with respect to direction. In this lesson, we’ll discuss one such classification of materials called orthotropic materials, which are widely used in many engineering applications. We will look into the 9 material constants that are needed for defining any orthotropic material and some of the methods of obtaining these material properties. Sometimes, all material constants are not available, and, in such cases, the missing values can sometimes be approximated using an assumption of transverse isotropy. Finally, we will also look into an important thermal property – Coefficient of Thermal Expansion.

Video Highlights

01:43 - Isotropic materials
02:10 - Material constants needed for describing any isotropic material
02:36 - Anisotropic and orthotropic materials
04:01 - Material constants needed for describing any orthotropic material
04:19 - Major vs Minor Poisson’s Ratio
05:06 - Anisotropic material behavior
05:33 - Obtaining material properties of orthotropic materials
06:35 - Handling missing material data
07:34 - Transverse isotropy
09:55 - Using Material Designer to compute anisotropic and orthotropic material properties
10:29 - Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE)

Alternate video link.