The project develops a virtual prototyping facility for the design of mechanical assemblies containing polymer composites. Design approaches are investigated for lowering the cost of manufacturing, especially methods which replace mechanical subassemblies by a unitary composite part. A suite of automated design tools is developed for virtual prototyping of assemblies made of polymer composite materials AND making these tools accessible on the Internet. Industrial relevance is insured by direct participation of a midsized company specializing in advanced polymer composites design and fabrication.
