AddPly by Addcomposites · browser-based laminate design

Design laminates across complex CAD surfaces.

Import a STEP model, group the faces that define your tooling — a tooling surface may combine several faces — draw a layup boundary across the face seams, define the plies on that region, and print a revision-stamped schedule. All in your browser.

Open the workbench Read the quick start

Desktop browser, mouse and a STEP file. The CAD kernel runs in a Web Worker in your own browser — nothing is uploaded, and there is no account to create.

01 — WORKFLOW

Four steps, in the order you already work

01
Bring in your geometry
Inspect the trimmed faces in your STEP model, with the kernel’s own exact areas — never a triangle sum.
02
Define the layup area
Select a tooling group and draw a closed boundary across its faces on an explicit principal plane.
03
Build the laminate
Assign a declared material, thickness and orientation to each ply on that region.
04
Return to your work
Save in this browser and export a portable project backup that travels with you.

02 — WHAT IT DOES

Exact geometry, declared plies

The region is a real intersection

A committed laminate region is the CAD kernel’s exact intersection of your swept boundary polygon with the faces of the tooling group — across face seams, with the model’s existing trims preserved. Its area is the sum of those fragments’ exact areas.

A ply angle is a declared orientation

Each ply carries a material name and reference you typed, a thickness, and an orientation measured against the projection reference you chose. That is a statement of intent, and the product treats it as one.

Multi-face tooling

Group the faces that are actually your tool, name the group, and cut one region across all of them. A boundary that crosses a face seam stays one region.

Projects that are still there tomorrow

Projects are kept in your browser, listed by name and last saved time, with the design rebuilt from the exact BRep it was authored on. A save reports success only once the browser has committed it.

Import: STEP (.step, .stp)
Project file: .cad-laminate.json
Boundary planes: XY · XZ · YZ
Geometry kernel: OpenCascade, in a worker
Storage: This browser, this origin
Account required: None

03 — LIMITS

What it does not do

Stated here rather than discovered later. These are not features waiting on a release date; they are outside what this tool claims.

No drape simulation, no solved fibre paths

Nothing here solves fibre direction on a curved surface, so nothing here draws one. A ply angle is declared against a principal-plane projection reference — not a steered course.

No certified material data

Material name and reference are free text. They are what you wrote down, not a qualified allowable, and the product never presents them as one.

No cloud, no sync, no sharing

A saved project belongs to one browser at one site address. It does not follow you to another machine, another browser or a private window. The exported project file is the copy that travels.

Boundaries are principal-plane polygons

A boundary is a closed polygon swept along X, Y or Z. Boundaries drawn on the surface itself, and offsets from part edges, are not supported.

04 — ROADMAP

From laminate design to path planning

AddPly defines the laminate. It does not plan fibre placement paths. Planned connectors will carry your tooling geometry, ply boundaries, stack order and declared orientations into the upcoming browser-based plannerComing soon and into AddPath, the separate Addcomposites path-planning productComing soon.

Neither connector is implemented. There is no Send button in the product and no compatibility is promised until an adapter has passed a real consumer test.

05 — QUESTIONS

Common questions

Which files can I import?: STEP files (.step, .stp), read by OpenCascade in a worker in your browser. Saved projects are opened from .cad-laminate.json files, which is also what the workbench exports.
Where are projects saved?: In your browser’s own storage, for the site address you are on. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account.
How do I move a project to another machine?: Export project writes a portable file that carries the exact CAD geometry inline. Open file on the other machine reads it back, revalidates every face, group, region and ply, rebuilds the geometry, and keeps it as a project there.
What happens if my browser data is cleared?: Local projects go with it. That is what browser storage is. Export anything you would mind losing — an exported file is a real backup and a cleared browser is not a recoverable one.
What boundary shapes are supported?: A closed polygon on the XY, XZ or YZ plane, swept along the remaining axis and intersected with your tooling faces. At least three points, no self-intersection.
Does it work on a phone?: These pages do. The workbench does not: it needs a desktop browser, a mouse and a real CAD file, and it says so rather than degrading quietly.

Open it and import a mould

No sign-up, no upload, no installation.