A continuum constitutive model for the mechanical behavior of woven fabrics

We propose a new approach for developing continuum models for the mechanical behavior of woven fabrics in planar deformation. We generate a physically motivated continuum model that can both simulate existing fabrics and predict the behavior of novel fabrics based on the properties of the yarns and the weave. The approach relies on the selection of a geometric model for the fabric weave, coupled with constitutive models for the yarn behaviors. The fabric structural configuration is related to the macroscopic deformation through an energy minimization method, and is used to calculate the internal forces carried by the yarn families. The macroscopic stresses are determined from the internal forces using equilibrium arguments. Using this approach, we develop a model for plain weave ballistic fabrics, such as Kevlar®, based on a pin-joined beam geometry. We implement this model into the finite element code ABAQUS and simulate fabrics under different modes of deformation. We present comparisons between model predictions and experimental findings for quasi-static modes of in-plane loading.     

Equivalent mechanical properties of textile monolayers from discrete asymptotic homogenization

The determination of the effective mechanical moduli of textiles from mechanical measurements is usually difficult due to their discrete architecture, which makes micromechanical analyses a relevant alternative to access those properties. Micropolar continuum models describing the effective mechanical behavior of woven fabric monolayers are constructed from the homogenization of an identified repetitive pattern of the textile within a representative unit cell. The interwoven yarns within the textile are represented as a network of trusses connected by nodes at their crossover points. These trusses have extensional and bending rigidities to allow for yarn stretching and flexion, and a transverse shear deformation is additionally considered. Interactions between yarns at the crossover points are captured by beam segments connecting the nodes. The woven fabric is modeled after homogenization as an anisotropic planar continuum with two preferred material directions in the mean plane of the textile. Based on the developed methodology, the effective mechanical properties of plain weave and twill are evaluated, including their bending moduli and characteristic flexural lengths. A satisfactory agreement is obtained between the effective moduli obtained by homogenization and numerical values obtained by finite element simulations performed over periodic unit cells.     

Impact of woven fabric: Experiments and mesostructure-based continuum-level simulations

Woven fabric is an increasingly important component of many defense and commercial systems, including deployable structures, restraint systems, numerous forms of protective armor, and a variety of structural applications where it serves as the reinforcement phase of composite materials. With the prevalence of these systems and the desire to explore new applications, a comprehensive, computationally efficient model for the deformation of woven fabrics is needed. However, modeling woven fabrics is difficult due, in particular, to the need to simulate the response both at the scale of the entire fabric and at the meso-level, the scale of the yarns that compose the weave. Here, we present finite elements for the simulation of the three-dimensional, high-rate deformation of woven fabric. We employ a continuum-level modeling technique that, through the use of an appropriate unit cell, captures the evolution of the mesostructure of the fabric without explicitly modeling every yarn. Displacement degrees of freedom and degrees of freedom representing the change in crimp amplitude of each yarn family fully determine the deformed geometry of the mesostructure of the fabric, which in turn provides, through the constitutive relations, the internal nodal forces. In order to verify the accuracy of the elements, instrumented ballistic impact experiments with projectile velocities of 22-550 m/s were conducted on single layers of Kevlar^® fabric. Simulations of the experiments demonstrate that the finite elements are capable of efficiently simulating large, complex structures.     

Consideration of the yarn–yarn interactions in meso/macro discrete model of fabric. Part I: Single yarn behaviour

A mesoscopic discrete model of dry fabric has been developed, based on the yarn–yarn interactions occurring at the yarns crossing points. The fabric yarns, described initially by a Fourier series development, are discretized into elastic straight bars represented by stretching springs and connected at frictionless hinges by rotational springs. The motion of each node is described by a lateral displacement and a rotation. The expression of the reaction force exerted by the transverse yarns at the contact points is assessed, from which the work of the reaction forces is established. The equilibrium shape of the yarn is obtained as the minimum of its total potential energy, accounting for the work of the reaction forces due to the transverse yarns. Simulations of a traction curve of a single yarn are performed, that evidence the effect of the yarn interactions. The two principal deformation mechanisms, the variation of undulation and the yarn stretching, are separately analysed.     

Micromechanics of fabric reinforced composites with periodic microstructure

A model to predict the effective stiffness of woven fabric composite materials is presented. Taking advantage of the inherent periodicity of woven fabric architecture, periodic microstructure theory is used at the mesoscale for the case of a two-phase heterogeneous material with multiple periodic inclusions. For plain weave fabrics, the representative volume element (RVE) is discretized into fiber/matrix bundles and the pure matrix regions that surround them. The surfaces of the fiber/matrix bundles are fit with sinusoidal equations using two approaches. The first is based on measurements taken from photomicrographs of composite specimens and the second is based on an idealized representation of the plain weave structure. Three-dimensional sinusoidal surfaces are generated from the face equations and weave shape for the real and idealized cases in order to mathematically describe the fiber/matrix bundle regions, which are treated as unidirectional composites. Model results from the idealized geometry are compared to experimental data from the literature and show good agreement, including interlaminar material properties. From a comparison of the real and idealized geometry results for similar material RVE dimensions, it is seen that the model is capable of predicting significant changes in the in-plane material properties from slight mismatch in the fiber/matrix bundle shape and crimp, which can be captured using the geometric surfaces generated from photomicrograph measurements.     

NONLINEAR MICRO－MECHANICAL MODEL FOR PLAIN WOVEN FABRIC

The warp yarns and weft yarns of plain woven fabric which, being the principal axes of material of fabric, are orthogonal in the original configuration, but are obliquely crossed in the deformed configuration in general. The orthotropic constitutive model is unsuitable for fabric. In the oblique principal axes system the relations between loaded stress vectors and stress tensor are investigated, the stress fields of micro-weaving structures of fabric due to pure shear are carefully studied and, finally, a nonlinear micro-mechanical model for plain woven fabric is proposed. This model can accurately describe the nonlinear mechanical behavior of fabric observed in experiments. Under the assumption of small deformation and linearity of mechanical properties of fabric the model will degenerate into the existing linear model.     

Consideration of the yarn–yarn interactions in meso/macro discrete model of fabric: Part II: Woven fabric under uniaxial and biaxial extension

A mesoscopic discrete model of fabric has been developed, accounting for the yarn–yarn interactions occurring at the yarn crossing points. The fabric yarns, described in their initial state by a Fourier series development, are discretized into elastic straight bars represented by stretching springs, and connected at frictionless hinges by rotational springs. In the first part of the paper, the behavior under uniaxial tension of a single yarn has been investigated, and the impact of the interactions of the transverse yarns has been quantitatively assessed. The consideration of the yarn interactions is extended in this second part at the scale of the whole network of interwoven yarns, under uniaxial and biaxial loading conditions. The effect of the transverse yarns properties under uniaxial tension is evidenced, as well as the impact of the biaxial loading ratio.     

Un modèle discret du couplage entre les fils dans une structure tisséeA discrete model for the coupling between the yarns in a woven fabric

The coupling between yarns in a piece of fabric has been analysed at the mesoscopic scale, in terms of its impact on the macroscopic unidirectional behaviour. Starting from a discrete model of a woven structure associated to a variational formulation of the equilibrium of the structure, the coupling between both yarns is introduced, the potential energy of which is calculated. The initial shape of the yarn, represented by a planar undulated beam supposed to be periodic, is described by a Fourier series. The coefficients of the series are expressed vs. the contact force exerted at the top of the undulations, and vs. the mechanical properties of the solicited yarn. The contact force is then expressed vs. the mechanical properties of the transverse yarn and vs. the vertical displacement of the contact point. The potential energy of the coupling is then built, assuming the continuity of the displacement at the contact points. The equilibrium shape of the yarn submitted to unidirectional traction is obtained numerically as the minimum of the total potential energy. The simulated traction curve reproduces in a satisfactorily manner the observed behaviour. The respective contributions of the flexional and extensional effects of the yarn are analysed. The consideration of the coupling enhances the rigidity of the response of the yarn; one demonstrates the effect of the geometrical and mechanical parameters of the transverse yarn. To cite this article: B. Ben Boubaker et al., C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

Local elastodynamic stresses in the unit cell of a woven fabric composite

Summary A theoretical study of the local elastodynamic stresses of woven fabric composites under dynamic loadings is presented in this article. The analysis focuses on the unit cell of an orthogonal woven fabric composite, which is composed of two sets of mutually orthogonal yarns of either the same fiber (nonhybrid fabric) or different fibers (hybrid fabric) in a matrix material. Using the mosaic model for simplifying woven fabric composites and a shear lag approach to account for the inter-yarn deformation, a one-dimensional analysis has been developed to predict the local elastodynamic and elastostatic behavior. The initial and boundary value problems are formulated and then solved using Laplace transforms. Closed form solutions of the dynamic displacements and stresses in each yarn and the bond shearing stresses at the interfaces between adjacent yarns are obtained in the time domain for any type of in-plane impact loadings. When time tends to infinity, the dynamic solutions approach to their corresponding static solutions, which are also developed in this article. Solutions of certain special cases are identical to those reported in the literature. Lastly, the dynamic stresses and bond shearing stresses of plain weave composites subjected to step uniform impacts are presented and discussed as an example of the general analytical model. Received 3 May 1999; accepted for publication 22 September 1999     

倾斜内锁型三维机织陶瓷基复合材料的细观力学模型

利用平均化方法提出了倾斜内锁型三维机织陶瓷基复合材料弹性性能分析的三维细观力学模型,对材料的弹性性能进行了预测。这个力学模型考虑了倾斜内锁型三维机织陶瓷基复合材料经向纤维束的弯曲和纬向纤维束的平直,纤维束的横截面形状尺寸和相邻纤维束之间的孔洞以及材料制造过程中碳纤维性能下降对弹性性能的影响。基于层合板理论,提出两种单胞应变状态假设分别对材料的九个弹性常数进行了推导计算,结果表明两种方法理论的预测值非常接近。计算结果与实验值比较吻合,表明所提出的细观力学模型是合理的,可以为纺织陶瓷基复合材料的优化设计提供有价值的参考。     

Experimental analysis and modeling of biaxial mechanical behavior of woven composite reinforcements

This paper presents experimental studies on the mechanical behavior of fiber fabrics using a biaxial tensile device based on two deformable parallelograms. The cross-shaped specimens are well adapted to fabrics because of their lack of shear stiffness. Tension versus deformation curves, for different strain ratios, are obtained in the case of composite woven reinforcements used in aeronautic applications. It is shown that the tensile behavior of the fabric is strongly nonlinear due to the weaving undulations and the yarn contraction, and that the phenomenon is clearly biaxial. A constitutive model is described and identified from the experimental data. The essential role played by the yarn crushing will be pointed out.     

In-plane shear testing of graphite-woven fabric composites

The losipescu shear test method was used to determine the in-plane shear response of AS4 and Celion carbon fiber/epoxy fabric composite materials. Several weave architectures were studied: AS4 uniweave, AS4 and Celion plain weaves, Celion 5-harness and 8-harness satin weaves. Specimens were tested using traditional strain gage techniques and full-field moiré interferometry. A full-node localized hybrid analysis is introduced to perform efficient reduction of moiré data, producing whole-field strain distributions in the specimen test section. It was found that the fabric yarn size greatly influenced the uniformity of the shear field in the specimen test section. However, consistent shear moduli still can be obtained using the modified losipescu specimen and Wyoming fixture except for fabrics with large fiber yarns.     

ELASTIC BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS OF 3D ANGLE-INTERLOCK WOVEN CERAMIC COMPOSITES

A micromechanical model for elastic behavior analysis of angle-interlock woven ceramic composites is proposed in this paper. This model takes into account the actual fabric structure by considering the fiber undulation and continuity in space, the cavities between adjacent yarns and the actual cross-section geometry of the yarn. Based on the laminate theory, the elastic properties of 3D angle-interlock woven ceramic composites are predicted. Different numbers of interlaced wefts have almost the same elastic moduli. The thickness of ceramic matrix has little effect on elastic moduli. When the undulation ratio increases longitudinal modulus decreases and the other Young's moduli increase. Good agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental results demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed model in analyzing the elastic properties of 3D angle-interlock woven ceramic composites. The results of this paper verify the fact that the method of analyzing polyester matrix composites is suitable for woven ceramic composites.     

编织复合材料弹性性能的细观力学模型

提出了编织复合材料弹性性能分析的细观力学模型，这个力学模型考虑了实际编织结构中的纬向和经向纤维束的曲屈，相邻纤维束之间的间隙和纤维束的横截面尺寸对编织复合材料弹性性能的影响，并探讨了在纤维束间纯树脂区内孔隙的含量和两种叠层结构对材料弹性性能的影响．理论计算结果与实测值的比较，表明所提出的细观力学模型是合理的．根据理论分析的结果，提出了优化单层和叠层编织结构的结构参数选择方法     

A mechanics-of-materials model for predicting Young’s modulus of damaged woven fabric composites involving three damage modes

An analytical model for damaged woven fabric composites is developed using the theory of advanced mechanics of materials. The analysis is based on Castigliano’s second theorem and utilizes a damaged mosaic model laminate. Three damage modes (i.e., transverse yarn cracking, interface debonding, and sliding with friction at the interface) are considered. Only one independent interfacial parameter, the friction coefficient between warp and fill yarns, is introduced in the analysis. A closed-form formula is provided for estimating effective Young’s modulus of damaged woven laminates. A parametric study of some 192 sample cases of two different composite systems (i.e., glass fiber/epoxy and ceramic fiber/ceramic) is conducted to illustrate the application and significance of the newly derived analytical model. The numerical values of the effective Young’s modulus for the special case involving only transverse yarn cracking (the first damage mode) estimated by the present mechanics-of-materials model agree fairly well with those predicted by an elasticity-based model [Int. J. Solids Struct. 38 (2001) 855]. For the general case involving all three damage modes simultaneously, the present model reveals the complex nature of Young’s modulus reduction in a quantitative manner, which differs from existing models.     

On the finite element analysis of woven fabric impact using multiscale modeling techniques

Finite element modeling of the impact of flexible woven fabrics using a yarn level architecture allows the capturing of complex projectile-fabric and yarn–yarn level interactions, however it requires very large computational resources. This paper presents a multiscale modeling technique to simulate the impact of flexible woven fabrics. This technique involves modeling the fabric using a yarn level architecture around the impact region and a homogenized or membrane type architecture at far field regions. The level of modeling resolution decreases with distance away from the impact zone. This results in a finite element model with much lower computational requirements. The yarns are modeled using both solid and shell finite elements. Impedances are matched across all interfaces created between the various regions of the model to prevent artificial reflections of the longitudinal strain waves. A systematic approach is presented to determine geometric and material parameters of the homogenized zone. The multiscale model is extensively validated against baseline models. The limitations of using shell elements to model the yarn level architecture underneath the projectile are addressed.     

平面织物复合材料机械性能的数值细观力学分析

本文根据应变能等效原理,利用有限元分析方法,处理了单层平面织物复合材料弹性性质的细观力学估算问题.建立了平面织物增强树脂的单方向波纹模型,对于织物的结构,组分性质与复合材料的宏观性能的关系作了系统处理.给出了一组较完整的平面织物复合材料单层弹性常数的估算结果,数值予告与实验结果比较,表明文中所提出的方法是有效的,并且可以进一步用它来考虑更为完善的平面织物复合材料二维波纹模型的分析.     

三维机织复合材料的弹性性能预报模型

建立了基于等效响应比拟技术的三维机织复合材料弹性性能预报模型．首先将三维机织物的结构单元分解为4个子元(经纱、纬纱、填充纱和接结纱),用几何模型去估算这些子元的体积分数．然后依据不同的外载形式,将复合材料的应力-应变关系等效地表达为3组诸子元所组成的三维弹簧网络．根据刚度系数的物理意义,采用不同的弹簧网络连接形式,并按体积平均化方法获得材料总体刚度矩阵中相应的刚度系数,进而计算得到三维机织复合材料的9个弹性系数．该模型考虑了层内交织经纱、层间交织接结纱的弯曲以及材料内部纯树脂区对三维机织复合材料弹性性能的影响．试验结果与模型的理论预测值进行比较,表明这个模型是有效的。     

On the transverse compression response of Kevlar KM2 using fiber-level finite element model

Flexible textile composites like woven Kevlar fabrics are widely used in high velocity impact (HVI) applications. Upon HVI they are subjected to both longitudinal tensile and transverse compressive loads. To understand the role of transverse properties, the single fiber and tow transverse compression response (SFTCR and TTCR) of Kevlar KM2 fibers are numerically analyzed using plane strain finite element (FE) models. A finite strain formulation with a minimum number of 84 finite elements is determined to be required for the fiber cross section to capture the finite strain SFTCR through a mesh convergence study. Comparison of converged numerical solution to the experimental results indicates the dominant role of geometric stiffening at finite strains due to growth in contact width. The TTCR is studied using a fiber length scale FE model of a single tow comprised of 400 fibers transversely loaded between rigid platens. This study along with micrographs of yarn after mechanical compaction illustrates fiber spreading and fiber–fiber contact friction interactions are important deformation mechanisms at finite strains. The TTCR is also studied using homogenized yarn level models with properties from the literature. Comparison of TTCR between fiber length scale and homogenized yarn length scale models indicate the need for a nonlinear material model for homogenized approaches to accurately predict the transverse compression response of the fabrics.     

Symmetry Properties of the Elastic Energy of a Woven Fabric with Bending and Twisting Resistance

A woven fabric can be described as a surface made of two families of fibers: in this work we study how the geometry of the weave pattern affects the symmetry properties of the elastic energy of the surface. Four basic symmetry classes of weave patterns are possible, depending on the angle between the fibers and their material properties. The properties of the pattern determine the material symmetry group of the network, under which the elastic energy is invariant. We derive representations for the energy of a woven fabric that are invariant under the symmetry group of the network, and discuss the relation of these invariants with the curvature and twist of the fibers.