Textile‐Reinforced Thermoplastics for Compliant Mechanisms – Application and Material Phenomena

Abstract

Compliant mechanisms are single-piece structures obtaining their desired motion through elastic deformation of flexible parts. The performance of compliant mechanisms is highly dependent on the material properties, which have to be characterized over a wide range of loads. Textile glass fiber reinforced polypropylene is identified as valuable material for compliant structures. The material properties and damage phenomena for tension, shear and compression loading as well as for cyclic loading are elaborated under special consideration of elastic and inelastic deformations. Local strain measurements in the vicinity of an open hole sharpen the validity of homogenized models for textile reinforcements and directing towards multi-scale approaches for a localized deformation analysis.

Novel Hybrid Yarn Textile Thermoplastic Composites for Function‐Integrating Multi‐Material Lightweight Design

“…This is made feasible by the use of a complex HYTT preform made partly of near net‐shaped 3D fabrics whose fibers are adapted to the respective loading paths (e.g., those to which the wheelhouses are subjected) . Furthermore, the integration of near net‐shaped shell stringer fabrics ensures the fulfilment of structural criteria while also minimizing weight as described in Mountasir et al Extensive research into the dimensioning of HYTT structures was therefore carried out, thus facilitating the use of novel damage models for HYTT composites to describe complex, non‐linear structural behavior under static and dynamic loading . Those models also made it possible to validate the structural resistance of components such as the bodywork and the adaptive leaf spring.…”