The following is a list of generic terms specific to how they are referred to in the TruPlan software. Other applications may refer to the same terminology another way. Therefore it is recommended to become familiar with the glossary.
- Bandwidth
- A width value representing the total width of material. This is simply to determine the tow width, and not a measure of the roller width.
- Boundary Tow Overlap
- The percentage value specifying the amount of the width of one tow that must overlap the ply boundaries. The overlap must be between or equal to 0% to 100% of the tow width.
- Compaction Distance
- The distance parameter representing the distance possible to compress the compaction roller. This parameter is a length value.
- Constant Angle solver
- The Constant Angle propagation mode consists of creating courses whose centerline follows the direction of material specified for the ply. In other words, the tangent of the centerline at any point is equivalent to the reference vector for the ply projected onto the tangent plane of the support and rotated around the normal to the specified orientation.
- Constant Angle Offset solver
- The Constant Angle Offset propagation mode is similar to the Constant Angle propagation mode in the sense that the first course of a ply generated with this method has a constant angle centerline. This first course is generated through the start point given for the ply. All other courses are adjacent to the previous course and all parallel offsets of the centerline of the first course.
- Constant Steering Solver
- The Constant Steering propagation mode is a derivative of the Constant Angle propagation mode that incorporates intentional steering into the fiber path. The result is a path that starts initially as a Constant Angle path, but proceeds as a geodesic curve with a constant radius of in-plane curvature. Subsequent courses are created by creating the centerline in the same manner as the first course using a starting condition that minimized the amount of overlap with the adjacent course.
- Constant Steering Offset Solver
- The Constant Steering Offset propagation mode uses the same methodology as the Constant Steering mode to generate the first course then uses a parallel offset of the previous course for subsequent courses. The relationship between the Constant Steering and Constant Steering Offset propagation modes is very similar to the relationship between the Constant Angle and Constant Angle Offset propagation modes.
- Course Offset
- The length to offset the course from its original position. This value is used to create an intentional gap or overlap between courses. Specifying a value that is less than the course's width is not allowed. Since courses can be narrowed due to compaction and geometry.
- Course Tow Overlap
- The percentage value specifying the amount of width of one tow that must overlap the adjacent course. The overlap must be between or equal to 0% or 100% of the tow width.
- Guide Curve Offset solver
- The Guide Curve Offset propagation mode uses curve geometry to create the centerline for the first course. The supplied guide curve is extrapolated using a geodesic curve to the ply or region boundary if it does not span the entire domain of the ply. The remaining courses are generated as parallel offsets of the first course.
- Hoop Wind Solver
- The Hoop Wind propagation mode is used for closed surfaces (i.e. cylinders) to produce a near 90 degree orientation. The advantage of this propagation mode is that it allows a 90 degree orientation without any discontinuity in the fiber. This is accomplished by winding the material around the surface rather than completing a perfect circle. Each loop of the path ends up 1 course width along the rotation axis of the cylinder from the previous loop. Therefore, the resulting path for the entire ply consists of only one course.
- Initial Course Offset
- The length to offset the first course from the seed point and/or curve. This value may be positive or negative. The sign of the length indicates which direction to offset with positive being to the right side of the course. This value can be any reasonable value in the positive or negative.
- Natural Solver
- The Natural Propagation mode is targeted at Automated Tape Laying (ATL) processes to minimize tape stretching. The starting conditions are similar to Constant Angle in that they include a starting point and an orientation. Each step along the course is analyzed for material steering and stretching. If the steering or stretching is out of tolerance, the angle is corrected for that step along the centerline to reduce the steering or stretching. As a result, this method follows the specified angle as much as possible as well as meeting the requirements of the automated tape laying (or automated fiber placement) process.
- Normal, n.
- A line segment that is displayed perpendicular to the laser output to which it is connected. A normal provides an TruPlanaccurate way of determining the direction that laser output geometry is pointing.
- Part, n
- Any shape that can be projected. A part may include text and geometry.
- Ply, n.
- A part of a model that represents one layer of composite material.
- Rosette, n.
- An indicator of grain direction that can be included within a laser output file. A rosette contains a primary indicator (usually a line segment placed in a specific orientation relative to the ply it describes) which points in the direction of the grain for the material the rosette is describing. A rosette also can contain a secondary indicator that lies perpendicular to the primary direction.
- Seed Curve, n.:
- An edge on your model that specifies the initial node locations for material layup.
- Seed Point, n.:
- A point on your model that defines the node location as initiation point for material layup.
- Stretch Limit
- A ratio value representing the amount of the total bandwidth that can be compressed before a warning is triggered.
- Surface, n.:
- A portion of the object that the laser light hits.
- Warp
- Spacing of the grid that will be used to sample the surface along the initial course direction.
- Weft
- Spacing of the grid that will be used to sample the surface perpendicular to the initial course direction.
- Winding Direction
- The direction to wrap the material around the part from the seed point. The direction is determined by looking along the reference vector and proceeding around the closed surface in a direction that is the specified orientation relative to the reference vector.