GEOMETRIC AND MECHANICAL MODELLING OF 3D WOVEN COMPOSITES

摘要

This paper assesses the capability of the 'WiseTex' and 'TexComp' computer models developed at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven to determine the fibre architecture and elastic properties of 3D woven fibre-polymer composites. The WiseTex model utilises minimum energy principles to predict the fibre architecture of textile preforms. In this paper the theoretical prediction of fibre architectures to various 3D orthogonal woven preforms using the WiseTex model are compared against the actual architectures of 3D woven fabrics. The resemblance of the theoretical to actual architectures is good, with the WiseTex model being capable of accurately determining the geometry and size of unit cells, areal density, fibre content and thickness of 3D woven fabrics. Reasons for any discrepancy between the WiseTex and actual fibre architectures are identified in the paper. The theoretical architectures of the preforms are then applied to the mesomechanical model -