Designing with Hardwire is similar to designing with any directional composite material. Once you have picked the Hardwire coating, cord type and fabric density, and used the Hardwire laminate software or charts to define the predicted material properties*, you can use the material properties to begin the design of your structure. Virtually any composite design program, finite element analysis, or good old fashion pen and paper engineering can be utilized. There are several engineering tools included on this web site that are great for first cut structural analysis using Hardwire.

Seg-beam.xls is our favorite for looking at rectilinear beams made from different modulus materials. Use this program to compare materials and their effects in square, I, Z, or box beams. Seg-beam.xls is great when looking at existing designs and seeing the effect of adding Hardwire. Examples of when to use Seg-beam.xls are for retrofits or existing geometries where the designer is working to substitute Hardwire for traditional fibers. Using this program you will be amazed at the effect Hardwire will have in reducing thickness and boosting strength and overall stiffness.

We have also included beam.exe and units.exe for your engineering pleasure. All of the software on this site was written by Dr. Steve Winckler, a former professor at RPI, true composite guru, and a hell of a nice guy. This software has been used as a quick way to compare materials and structures for the big projects like bridge decks, rail cars and huge marine structures with amazing accuracy. Use these programs as a starting place and if you really need to be amazed with what Hardwire can do before you start molding, model the material and structure in your finite element software of choice.

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