Woven composites textile composite models

Modelling of textile and, in particular, woven composites is an established, mature field, which has passed a long way of increasing model complexity from early models referring to the classical laminate theory, adapted to account for knockdown factors due to fibre crimp, to advanced models of today, based on meso-level (woven unit cell) FE analysis. Several specialised commercial and open-source numerical tools for simulation of textile unit cells are now available. 

Huang H, Waas AM. Compressive response of Z-pinned woven glass fiber textile composite laminates modeling and computations. Compos Sci Technol 2009 69 2338-44. 

Lomov SV, Gusakov AV, Huysmans G, Prodromou A, Verpoest I. Textile geometry preprocessor for meso-mechanical models of woven composites. Compos Sci Technol... 

In this section we select the most important criteria of correspondence of a model to reality. Then, we overview both the peculiarities of textile reinforcement that must be accounted in an ideal damage model and the requirements to the solid models asserted by various FE approaches. Meso-scale 3D FE models available in literature are classified according to the selected geometric features. Models of 2D braided composites are included in the overview to give a wider perspective. In many aspects, challenges for modelling 2D braided and 2D woven yam architectures are exactly the same. 

It can be seen from a number of publications on textile mechanics that the modelling methods progressed from force and torque equilibrium analysis to energy methods and to the finite-element and RVE analysis. This trend can be traced through the entire range of textile products, from yams to woven, knitted, braided and non-woven fabrics, and to composites. 

Considerable research has been undertaken in the CAD and manufacture of a range of 3D woven textile stmctures that can be used as preforms for composite materials (PERA, 2006 Mouritz et al., 1999 DERA CRAFT, 2002 Strong and Jensen, 2002 Jenkins and Khanna, 2005). WeaveStudio (Smith, 2009) is a CAD/CAM software package implemented to support the research and development of CAD/CAM and geometric modelling algorithms for technical textiles with specific emphasis on the N3DWS. 

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