Failure Analysis of Woven and Braided Fabric Reinforced Composites

TLDR

The authors developed a micromechanics analysis that discretely models yarn architecture within the textile repeating unit cell to predict its three‑dimensional thermal and mechanical properties, damage initiation, and strength. They implemented this analysis in the user‑friendly, PC‑based code TEXCAD, applying it to plain weave and 2×2 triaxial braided composites and conducting parametric studies on yarn size, spacing, crimp, braid angle, and fiber volume fraction to evaluate strength. The predicted tension, compression, and shear strengths matched well with experimental data for both woven and braided composites.

Abstract

A general purpose micromechanics analysis that discretely models the yarn architecture within the textile repeating unit cell was developed to predict overall, three-dimensional, thermal and mechanical properties, damage initiation and progression, and strength. This analytical technique was implemented in a user-friendly, personal computer-based, menu-driven code called Textile Composite Analysis for Design (TEXCAD). TEXCAD was used to analyze plain weave and 2 × 2, 2-D triaxial braided composites. The calculated tension, compression, and shear strengths correlated well with available test data for both woven and braided composites. Parametric studies were performed on both woven and braided architectures to investigate the effects of parameters such as yarn size, yarn spacing, yarn crimp, braid angle, and overall fiber volume fraction on the strength properties of the textile composite.