can't find Fiberglass physical material

[calexpavel]

Hey!

So i just started learning Fusion and i can't find fiberglass in the physical material pallete. is it under a different name? Is there a similar material that has properties close to fiberglass?

I am planning to create fiberglass furniture and i want to create simulations for my objects. 

Cheers!

[MikeSmell_ADSK · Accepted solution]

Hi @calexpavel - 

I do not believe fiberglass is in our material library, however, this is something that you could add as a custom material with one critical caveat. Simulation in Fusion 360 does not currently support orthotropic materials, and fiberglass definitely falls into that category. If you are looking to simulate your designs with Fusion 360, you would need to make some assumptions on deriving an isotropic material property equivalent of the fiberglass material you are working with. Only you, as the owner of the designs, can determine whether or not these type of assumptions are valid for your design and testing purposes. 

Please let us know if you have any more questions.

Thanks, 

Mike Smell

Product Manager, Fusion 360 - Simulation

[calexpavel]

I see. This makes sense. I guess i'll do some research to find a material with similar properties. 

Thanks for your answer!

[johnSPDfalmouth]

Same quest. Calexpavel did you find any suitable materials that replicate fiberglass? Many thanks

[calexpavel]

No, for no i don't need to, but i'll let you know when i do.

[Anonymous]

@johnSPDfalmouth, there will not be 1 single material that can represent all designs properly if using an isotopic model.

You can make conservative assumptions to approximate the behaviour however. Such as using the lowest yield strength and/or stiffness of all directions. Assuming neat resin for low fiber content...etc. however this will never be perfectly accurate and may be highly inaccurate depending on your design details.

[michael.k.jansen]

I believe the material you are looking for is actually available under "plastic".  Look for GFRP for Glass Fibre Reinforce plastic.  Similarly, CFRP for Carbon Fibre reinforced plastic.  You can of course edit the properties to suit your particular needs.

cheers

Mike

[Anonymous]

@michael.k.jansen , the concern in this case is the material model. I believe those are isotopic models which are limited in the applications that they are well suited for.

If the design is a glass filled plastic, or if it's used as a conservative approximation it may work. But to properly simulate long strand or laid fiberglass...you need an orthotropic model.

[johnSPDfalmouth]

Great stuff, thanks @Anonymous and @michael.k.jansen.

will go for the 'approx' approach and use it with caution,  the intent is to highlight structural weakness in a sailboard design to then inform a GFRP layup plan for the physical board. 

will see how it goes, many thanks

[niccareyXQMJK]

This worked for me! I found that CFRP is basically what you would want. I'm designing a boat and wanted to use CFRP or GFRP. Both are in Fusion,