I use Strand7 quite a bit (but not full time), and love it. I have all the options, but don't have time to explore all of them. Ann Delvoux is the USA Tech Rep, and is very helpful. In one of my models I had about 120,000 bricks, lots of plates, etc. and it took about 10 minutes.
The best source of information about knock-down factors will be from the NASA SP series of reports.
NASA SP 8007 is used for cylindrical shells, isotropic and orthotropic. There a additional SP's for cones, plates, and spherical shells.
Perhaps a bit old school, but I thought spacecraft thermal analysis used Trasys/Sinda software to determine temperatures. The resultant temperatures are then transferred to the mechanical model for analysis.
While I did not read your excellent paper in excruciating detail, it appears to be very concise and detailed. Your focus is on establishing methodology for establishing a high quality bond initially, and then observing bond degradation due to hydration. Other factors that you have pointed out...
One possibility for not having the Failure Index's match is that Tsai-Wu requires an interaction term. On some programs that can be set by the user, and in other cases it is internally fixed.
In many cases, the interaction term is set at -.5, but can also be 0 or +.5
The software...
Look up your Pshell data fields.
Mid1 is the membrane matrix,
Mid2 is the bending matrix,
Mid3 is the honeycomb or foam core matrix (if used),
Mid4 is the coupling matrix (which means the laminate is not symmetric about the midplane).
Where, Mid? references the Mat2 (or Mat8) cards with the...
You have correctly answered your own question. The "G" terms are placeholders.
Mat2 cards are used with Pshell cards. Membrane is [A]/t, and bending is 12*[D]/t^3. If there is membrane-bending coupling, then the [B] matrix is also used; [B]/t^2. Where [A], [B] and [D] are the portions of...
DER's operate under the guidance of 8110-37, which is controlled by the FAA. The FAA is a federal agency, not subject to the whims of individual states. The PE is not required.
Have you considered using pre-cured G-10 sheets bonded to balsa core? You would still need to seal the edges, but I suspect that the right shape (pre-cured) or bent on a brake would work.
All you would be doing now is bonding the pieces together.
