Composite Design > Composite Design Workflow > Creating Plies > Create a Ply
Create a Ply
A ply is defined by a boundary, rosette, material, orientation, drop-off, name, and sequence. To create a ply, you must first set up the Composite Design environment. To learn how to setup the Composite Design environment, see Setting Up the Composite Design Environment.
You can create a ply in one of the following ways:
• Manual Ply—Creates a ply object by defining a boundary, rosette, material, orientation, drop-off, name, and sequence. The ply feature that creates the ply object with this method is indicated by .
• Zone Based Ply—Creates a ply object by specifying a laminate zone for its boundary, rosette, material, orientation, drop-off, name, and sequence. The ply feature that creates the ply object with this method is indicated by .
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You can change the default prefixes of the name and the sequence of a laminate object in one of the following ways:
• Click File > Options. In the Creo Parametric Options dialog box, click Applications > Composite. Specify the values under Name Policy Settings.
Manual Ply
Create a manual ply as follows:
1. Click Ply. The Ply tab opens.
2. Under Type, select Manual Ply.
3. In the Boundary chains collector, select chains to define the boundary of a ply. You can define a boundary by selecting a single closed loop, one outer and one or more inner loops, multiple individual loops, or multiple intersecting curves, edges, or loops. To learn how to define the boundary of a ply, see Example: Define a Ply Boundary.
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To invert the selection, click Flip Side.
4. To change the default rosette, click in the Rosette box and select a rosette from the Composite Tree.
5. To change the default material, select a different composite material from the Material list.
6. In the Orientation box, select or type an angle to set the orientation of the ply relative to the X-axis of the rosette.
7. (Optional) In the Ply Settings tab, change the following settings:
◦ In the Drop-off box, select Default or specify a value. When you select Default, the ply will use the drop-off value defined in the setup. When you specify a custom value, that value will be used.
◦ In the Name box, specify a name.
◦ In the Sequence box, specify a sequence. Two or more laminate objects can have the same sequence.
8. Click OK.
Zone Based Ply
Before you create a zone-based ply, you must first create a laminate zone. A laminate zone stores a boundary definition. To create a laminate zone, you must first set up the Composite Design environment. To learn how to set up the Composite Design environment, see Setting Up the Composite Design Environment.
Create a laminate zone as follows:
1. Click Laminate Zone. The Laminate Zone tab opens.
2. In the Boundary chains collector, select chains to define a boundary. You can define a boundary by selecting a single closed loop, one outer and one or more inner loops, multiple individual loops, or multiple intersecting curves, edges, or loops. To learn how to define the boundary of a ply, see Example: Define a Ply Boundary.
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To invert the selection, click Flip Side.
3. Click OK.
Create a zone-based ply as follows:
1. Click Ply. The Ply tab opens.
2. Under Type, select Zone Based Ply.
3. In the Laminate zones collector, select one or more zones to define the boundary of a ply. The zones you select must form a single closed contour.
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When you use multiple zones to define a ply boundary, the zones must be adjacent, intersecting, or both. Make sure that you avoid detached zones.
4. To change the default rosette, click in the Rosette box and select a rosette from the Composite Tree.
5. To change the default material, select a different composite material from the Material list.
6. In the Orientation box, select or type an angle to set the orientation of the ply relative to the X-axis of the rosette.
7. (Optional) In the Ply Settings tab, change the following settings:
◦ In the Drop-off box, select Default or specify a value. When you select Default, the ply will use the drop-off value defined in the setup. When you specify a custom value, that value will be used.
◦ In the Name box, specify a name.
◦ In the Sequence box, specify a sequence. Two or more laminate objects can have the same sequence.
8. Click OK.
Locate a Ply Object
• To locate the ply object of a ply feature, right-click the ply feature and select .
• To locate the ply or core objects of a laminate zone feature, right-click the laminate zone feature in the Composite Tree and select .
Locate a Ply Feature
• To locate the ply feature of a ply object, right-click the ply object and select .
Locate Laminate Zones
• To locate the laminate zone features of a ply object, right-click the ply object and select .
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