Analyze of the contact behaviour between two layers of dry glass plain weave fabric

摘要

The market demand for thicker complex shaped structural composite parts is increasing. Processes of the Liquid Composite Moulding (LCM) family, such as Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) are considered to manufacture such parts. The first stage of the RTM process concerns the preforming of the part. During the preforming of multi-layered reinforcements, friction between the plies occurs and needs to be characterize and then to be taken into account for the forming simulation. An experimental device designed to analyze the ply/ply, ply/tool and yarn/yarn frictions has been built. Tests carried out on a glass plain weave highlight specific contact behaviour for dry reinforcement fabric in comparison to non-technical textiles. This behaviour exhibits a substantial variation of the contact tangential loads which is directly related to shocks between the yarns. It demonstrated that period and amplitude of the friction response is directly related to the relative positioning of the samples but also to fabric meso-strucrure. In addition, the sample relative orientation has a significant influence on the friction response. The meso-architecture is responsible for the high variations of the friction coefficient as a function of the ply orientations for different fabrics. In addition, the friction response appears to be very sensitive to tests parameters like the relative positioning, orientation of the samples and the cycling. A honing effect classically observed in dry fabric testing has also been pointed out through cyclic experiments. It can be attributed to both fibre material abrasion and fibre reorganisation inside the yarn.