User's Guide to PreComp (Pre-Processor for Computing Composite Blade Properties)

PreComp (Pre-processor for computing Composite blade structural properties) was developed to compute the stiffness and inertial properties of a composite blade. The code may also be used to compute the structural properties of a metallic blade by treating it as a special case of an isotropic composite material. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to prepare input files (specifyblade external geometry and internal structural layup of composite laminates), how to execute the code, and how to interpret the output properties. PreComp performs extensive checks for completeness, range, and viability of input data; these are also discussed in this manual. The code runs fast, usually in a fraction of a second, and requires only a modest knowledge of the composites andlaminates schedule typically used in blades.