Woven composites stiffness modelling

Alternatively, tests can be used to obtain the basic stiffness properties of the material form and their corresponding range measured by some statistical property such as the standard deviation. In two-dimensional cases where there are no significant loads in the out-of-plane direction, the basic orthotropic stiffness properties in Eqn (6.1) can be measured experimentally. Then, the classical laminated plate theory described in previous sections for determination of stiffness can be used effectively to model these sttuctures. Alternatively, the four basic stiffiiesses for 3-D woven composites can be... 

So far, the bulk of literature has concentrated on characterizing the mechanical properties of both thermosetting- - - and thermoplastic-based - knitted composite materials. The modeling of the mechanical properties (mainly stiffness and tensile) has also been popular. However, limited literature exists on the forming property characteristics of knitted fabric-reinforced thermoplastics - and their processing properties are still poorly understood. In fact, most of the literature on forming properties deals with unidirectional, - mostly woven and, to a lesser extent, braided reinforcements, rather than knitted reinforcements. 

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