CompositeStar http://www.material.be/compositestar/index.html
CADWind http://www.material.be/cadwind/index.html
Both have a 30day trial and don’t look to be too expensive.
Anyone with any experience with either of these? Opinions?
Looks interesting. Maybe we could discuss a discount for forum members? According to the webpage 10 users 10% discount
That would be nice. To bad it doesn’t seem anyone has any experience or is even interested in the programs.
I am brand new to this forum. I have 29 years of composites analysis experience. I have used CompositePro since 1998 and am a little dissapointed with the latest version from Firehole. I am going to look at CompositeStar.
Hey Spano!
I’m glad you found this forum. Since you mentioned your composites engineering expertise I’m going to be up front in saying I’m going to be asking you a lot of questions! I hope you don’t mind.
I am currently shopping for a good composites analysis program. My application if for short bursts of high pressure so I need to work on the fatigue life issue as well. Any advice would be appreciated.
Bob, first you need fatigue data. This is very hard to come by and you will likely have to get representitave coupons tested. Many FEA programs have a fatigue module. One last thought…your frequency rate for your testing must me low enough where it will not generate heat. 3 hz would be a good place to start.
Wow. Wouldn’t that be nice. Having fatigue data first is like the holy grail for me but I doubt thats going to happen. The cost of getting that data would scuttle the project all by itself.
I don’t know this two programs. But you should check also FiberSim and Hypersizer. Check its capabilities vs price…
Yeah Hypersizer and FiberSim kick butt! Just don’t look at the price. 
When I found CompositeStar & CADWind I was just looking for a cheap program to use at home.
Couple good videos on Hypersizer & Fibersim.
[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCuJ8aRaL68&feature=plcp&context=C32b3179UDOEgsToPDskKTvyv30aBKrpkaisXs5qSI”]HyperSizer - NASA Hallmark Video - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rMGI_KvBhk&feature=related”]Hypersizer 6.0 Software - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6yBYHhg5MU”]VISTAGY - ING Renault F1 Racing Partnership - YouTube[/ame]
I have used Composite star for over three years now. I have used Think Composites Spreadsheets since 1988. CompositeStar for me is used as a micro-mechanics tool (constituent materials) to input 3D orthotropic properties to FEMAP and other FEA analysis programs. It also provides reasonable correlation to coupon test data within a characterization program.
r/