A Meso–Macro Three Node Finite Element for Draping of Textile Composite Preforms

Abstract

The composite textile reinforcement draping simulations allows the conditions for a successful process to be determined and, most importantly, the positions of the fibres after forming to be known. This last point is essential for the structural computations of the composite part and for resin injection analyses in the case of LCM processes. Because the textile composite reinforcements are multiscale materials, continuous (macro) approaches and discrete (meso) approaches that model the yarns have been developed. The finite element that is proposed in this paper for textile fabric forming is composed of woven unit cells. The mechanical behaviour of these is analyzed by 3D computations at the mesoscale regarding biaxial tensions and in plane shear. The warp and weft directions of the woven fabric can be in arbitrary direction with respect to the direction of the element side. This is very important in the case of multi-ply deep drawing and when using remeshing. The element is efficient because it is close to the physic of the woven cell while avoiding the very large number of unknowns in the discrete approach. A set of validation tests and forming simulations on single ply and multi-ply are presented and show the efficiency of the approach. In particular the importance of the in-plane shear behaviour is emphasized in the case of a draping on a cube.

Design and Potentiality of an Apparatus for Measuring Yarn/Yarn and Fabric/Fabric Friction

“…Many methods have been proposed recently to achieve representative sheet forming simulations for one layer of dry or thermoplastic fabric, through different types of finite elements (trusses, shells, membrane elements), with continuous, discrete or semi-discrete approaches [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Several key entry parameters for the simulation models need to be determined.…”

“…Up to now, numerical studies carried out to simulate the multi-layer forming of dry fabrics have used very approximate modelling of the contact between layers. For instance, an approximate friction coefficient, which is independent from the yarns angle, is used by Hamila et al [9]. In addition, preliminary multi-layer forming tests confirmed the significant influence of the relative positioning of the dry plies against one another [28].…”

Analyze of the Contact Behaviour between Two Layers of Dry Glass Plain Weave Fabric

“…Many methods have been proposed recently to achieve representative sheet forming simulations of dry fabric, with different approaches [2][3]. Several key entry parameters for the simulation models need to be determined experimentally.…”

Improved accuracy in the determination of flexural rigidity of textile fabrics by the Peirce cantilever test (ASTM D1388)

“…4 A different approach is through the use of finite element analysis taking into account all important material parameters that dictate the forming capability. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] It is generally agreed that the parameters (i) tensile stiffness, (ii) shear stiffness (and its locking angle), (iii) tool-ply and inter-ply friction and (iv) bending stiffness are dominant factors in the material model. 1 In addition, it is known that the finite element simulation of fabric draping requires a specialized framework to follow the fiber directions.…”