## 3.2. Local Reinforcements

Regions with cut-outs, holes or load introduction elements are normally highly stressed and require local reinforcements to prevent failure. ACP offers different ways to define local patches. Selection Rules can be used to apply reinforcements to selected areas of the structure's geometry. The shape of a reinforcing ply is defined by the intersection of an Oriented Selection Set and the selected Selection Rules.

The examples Class40 and Tutorial 2 use Parallel Selection Rule and Tube Selection Rule to define patches. Tutorial 2 describes how a Tube Selection Rule can be defined to add a ply following an edge. The procedure involves these steps:

1. Define an Edge Set from the boundaries of an Element Set.

2. Create a Tube Selection Rule along the defined Edge Set with a certain inner and outer radius.

   Figure : Tube Selection Rule

3. Create a new ply and configure the Selection Rules in the Rule tab of the Modeling Ply Properties dialog.

   Figure : Rules Tab of the Modeling Ply Property Dialog

   The selection rule parameters can be modified for each Modeling Ply. This allows you to work with one Selection Rule to define the staggering of a laminate. You can activate a template and set the new parameters. The final result can be double-checked with Section Cuts or a thickness contour plot as shown in the figure below.

   Figure : Resulting Local Reinforcements

Selection Rules can also be combined with Oriented Selection Sets and other Selection Rule types like Parallel, Spherical, or Cylindrical are also implemented in ACP. Any combination of these selection rules allows to create plies with complex shapes.

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