Hello,

I am an undergrad student working on our senior design project. The component that we must model is very similar to the structure of a canopy, or a rectangular tent. We have been asked to simulate the loads on the fabric to determine where we should place the seams. The model of the fabric is complete, but we are having trouble with the simulation.

     In the simulation, we have been using the Simulation Advisor. We have treated it as a shell, and everything seems to go well until we reach Interactions. Our goal is to somehow have the simulation understand that the fabric is very strong in-plane, under tensile stress but everything else is flexible. Is this something we change in material properties? Is there a way to do this separate from applying just tensile loads to the fabric? They want a simulation for just gravity, as well as a simulation for wind load. We could apply the stress loads in the same places the frame would be attached to put in under tensile stress? Honestly, we just want to simplest solution to determine the best places to put seams. (Locations of tearing/maximum displacement.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are novices in Simulation.