This paper provides an overview of TexGen, the open source software package for 3D modelling of textiles and their composites developed at the University of Nottingham. The underlying modelling theory is briefly discussed followed by descriptions of applications utilising TexGen in the fields of textile mechanics, textile composite mechanics and permeability. The limitations and further development of the approach are also considered.

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For a 3D orthogonal carbon fibre weave, geometrical parameters characterising the unit cell were quantified using micro-Computed Tomography and image analysis. Novel procedures for generation of unit cell models, reflecting systematic local variations in yarn paths and yarn cross-sections, and discretisation into voxels for numerical analysis were implemented in TexGen. Resin flow during reinforcement impregnation was simulated usingComputational Fluid Dynamics to predict the in-plane permeability. With increasing degree of local refinement of the geometrical models, agreement of the predicted permeabilities with experimental data improved significantly. A significant effect of the binder configuration at the fabric surfaces on the permeability was observed. In-plane tensile properties of composites predicted using mechanical finite element analysis showed good quantitative agreement with experimental results. Accurate modelling of the fabric surface layers predicted a reduction of the composite strength, particularly in the direction of yarns with crimp caused by compression at binder cross-over points.

In this article, a method allowing vibro-acoustic and ultrasonic wave propagation analysis of highly anisotropic textile composites at a mesoscopic level is presented for the first time. The method combines the advantages of mode-based Component Mode Synthesis (CMS) that allows reduction of the size of the Dynamic Stiffness Matrix (DSM) of a textile unit cell, and of a Wave Finite Element Method (WFEM), which associates the Periodic Structure Theory (PST) with standard Finite Element Method (FEM). The scheme presented allows the study of the wave propagation properties of a periodic structure by modelling only a unit cell. A multi-scale approach is used to enable the comparison of standard vibrational analysis of textile composite structures, using homogenized properties, with a more complex analysis, where the mesoscale properties of the structure are preserved. It is shown for two different types of weaves that using a standard homogenised model results in significant errors in the dispersion curves. Also band-gap behaviour within specific frequency ranges are successfully predicted using the mesoscale models, whereas it was not observed in the macroscale ones.