Free course · 41 lessons · 8 chapters
Composites Design, from the ply up.
Why a composite part is designed ply by ply: what a ply is made of, how plies are stacked, how stiff and how strong a laminate is, how it fits a real part, and how it goes to the shop. Every lesson runs a simulation, shows the numbers, and stops to ask you a question.
Our own curriculum, built on classical laminate theory and the open literature; the textbooks are listed as further reading. We design in AddPly, our browser app for laminate design.
How every lesson works
Watch, predict, check.
One idea per lesson, built from animation, simulation and AddPly on a real part. No stock footage, no slides read aloud.
A simulation runs while the numbers build beside it, like a ply's stiffness falling as you pull it off its fibres.
Every lesson pauses to ask what you think happens next, then shows you.
A short knowledge check at the end of each chapter, drawn from the lessons.
When the course is complete, pass all eight chapter checks for a certificate with a verifiable serial.
Curriculum
Eight chapters, one laminate.
From a single ply to a ply book the shop can build. Open a chapter for its overview and lessons.
Chapter checks · certificate
Five questions a chapter. Then a certificate.
Each check has five questions drawn from the chapter's lessons. Get four right to pass; retake as often as you like. Checks open chapter by chapter. When the course is complete, pass all 8 for a free certificate with a verifiable serial you can add to LinkedIn.
Free learner sign-up
Save your progress.
Keep your place across devices, save your chapter-check passes, claim your certificate, and hear when new chapters and courses open. No password. Nothing is gated: every lesson stays free.
Further reading
The lessons explain it. These books go deeper.
The course is our own. When you want the full derivations, these are the references laminate designers keep on the desk. They are cited, never copied; none of their authors or publishers has reviewed the course.
- Basic Mechanics of Laminated Composite Plates
A. T. Nettles · NASA Reference Publication 1351, 1994 - Mechanics of Composite Materials
R. M. Jones · Taylor & Francis, 2nd ed., 1999 - Engineering Mechanics of Composite Materials
I. M. Daniel & O. Ishai · Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2006 - Design and Analysis of Composite Structures
C. Kassapoglou · Wiley, 2nd ed., 2013 - Composite Materials Handbook (CMH-17), Volume 3, Rev. G
CMH-17 · SAE International, 2012
Feedback
Tell us what to fix.
Every lesson page has its own feedback box. This one is for the course as a whole.
Questions
Before you start.
Is it free?
Yes. Every lesson and every chapter check is free, with no account. Sign up free to save your passes; the certificate opens when the course is complete.
What is AddPly?
Our browser app for laminate design: STEP import, regions, ply stacks with live stacking-rule checks, flat-laminate stiffness from your own ply data, thickness, mass and the ply book. It does not do strength or failure analysis, or draping; the course teaches those on its own simulations and says so. Open AddPly.
Who made this?
Addcomposites, the company behind AddPly, AddPath and the AFP-XS head. The curriculum and simulations are our own. Where a number comes from a datasheet or a textbook, the video says which.
What background do I need?
High-school maths is enough to follow: averages, ratios and a little trigonometry.