Investigation on Rapid Prediction of Elastic Properties for Woven Fabric Composites

Abstract

In order to simplify the performance analysis of woven fabric composites, the parametric micro-geometry model and APDL program are applied on elastic properties prediction. Firstly, the internal microstructure of woven fabric composites were observed using microscope. Seconldy, the parametric micro-geometry model was built using the defined equations to describe the shape of cross-section, the yarn path and their relations in Pro/e software. The cross-section of yarn was defined as ellipse curve ,while the yarn path was defined as sinusoidal and straight lines. Finally, the model was imported into ANSYS software, and the finite element analysis was carried out using the developed APDL program to obtain the elastic constants. With the proposed approach, several kinds of micro-geometry model of woven fabric composites were built automatically and their elastic constants were predicted quickly. It is shown that the predicted elastic constants are consistent with other references.