Implant and submodeling techniques for detailed finite element study of inserts in composites

Plastics and other specialty materials such as composites and concrete etc. are effectively used under situations which require less weight with more load bearing capacity. Based on specific design requirements, the parent material with which the component is primarily made of, is inserted with implants, whose size could be very small compared to the over all component/system. These inserts could serve multiple purposes such as providing localized stiffness, provide improved strength and stiffness for attaching other components, facilitate wiring harness, Allow liquidous circuit through pipes etc. When used as a stiffener for strength enhancement, the contribution of the implant needs to be studied in detail using techniques such as finite element method to evaluate its contribution besides examining it for any localized failure in a detailed manner. Different commercial software has different capabilities and hence different methods are followed by engineers across multiple disciplines to perform detailed study of these inserts. Each of such methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. This study proposes a generic algorithm in conjunction with sub modeling technique using finite element methods, which can be used with any of the commercial finite element software for improved and detailed study of the implant behavior/contribution. •The proposed method combines the advantages of the of existing approximate methods such as embedded and 3D composite methods•The proposed method consists of 2 linear finite element computations in which the first gives approximate results for simplified geometry, while the second calculation gives accurate and finer results using submodeling technique•The method can be generalized to be applied for any complex shaped implant geometries with multiple materials.