Reporting Mass Properties of the Material
The mass properties computation in the Composite Design environment is similar to the standard mass properties computation. You can compute the mass properties of a single laminate object similar to a ply or a core, or the full laminate. Before you compute the mass properties of the whole laminate, make sure that you setup a mass properties computation method as follows:
1. In the Composite Design environment, click > 
Mass Properties Computation.
Mass Properties Computation.2. Select a method to compute the mass properties:
◦ Based on layup surface—Calculates mass properties of plies and cores based on their geometry on the layup surface.
◦ Based on underlying plies—Calculates mass properties of a laminate object based on the effect of underlying plies in the laminate stack on its 3D position from the layup surface. With the underlying plies option selected, all mass properties calculations are shared with the draping simulation analysis. This allows to leverage intermediate results to improve the performance.
Generate a mass properties report in the Composite Design environment as follows:
1. Do one of the following:
◦ To generate the mass properties report of the whole laminate, do the following:
1. Click > > 
Composite Properties. The Composite Properties dialog box opens.
Composite Properties. The Composite Properties dialog box opens.2. Click change adjacent to Mass Properties. The Mass Properties dialog box opens.
◦ To calculate mass properties of a single laminate object do the following:
1. In the Laminate Tree, right-click the laminate object.
2. Select 
Mass Properties Settings. The Mass Properties dialog box opens.
Mass Properties Settings. The Mass Properties dialog box opens.2. In the Define Properties by list, select either Geometry or Fully Assigned.
3. You can change other settings in the same way as you do in the standard mass properties computation.
4. Click Generate Report. After computing the mass properties, make sure that you apply the changes in the composite feature and exit.
Analyze the mass properties in the Composite Design environment as follows:
1. Click > 
Mass Properties. The Mass Properties dialog box opens.
Mass Properties. The Mass Properties dialog box opens.2. To analyze the mass properties of the full laminate, select Full laminate. To analyze the mass properties of a single laminate object, select Single object and specify the laminate object in the adjacent box.
3. Select a method to compute the mass properties:
◦ Based on layup surface—Calculates mass properties of plies and cores based on their geometry on the layup surface.
◦ Based on underlying plies—Calculates mass properties of plies and cores considering the underlying plies in the laminate stack.
4. Click Preview to calculate the results.
 | You can click  to display the information in a separate window. |
5. Click OK.