Thermal–mechanical cell model for unbalanced plain weave woven fabric composites

• Published in: Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 1019 - 1037
• Main Author: Lua, James
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: A. Fabrics/textiles; Applied sciences; B. Physical properties; C. Micro-mechanics; D. Mechanical testing; Exact sciences and technology; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Fracture mechanics (crack, fatigue, damage...); Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Laminates; Physics; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Solid mechanics; Structural and continuum mechanics; Technology of polymers; D. Mechanical testing; B. Physical properties; C. Micro-mechanics; A. Fabrics/textiles; Fracture mechanics; Laminate; Mechanical model; Stress strain relation; Fiber reinforced material; Theoretical study; Mechanical properties; Polymer; Thermomechanical properties; Tensile property; Modeling; Composite material; Micromechanics; Finite element method; Numerical simulation; Property structure relationship; Woven material; Fracture mode; Damaging
• ISSN: 1359-835X; 1878-5840
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2006.06.023

A high fidelity assessment of accumulative damage of woven fabric composite structures subjected to aggressive loadings is strongly reliant on the accurate characterization of the inherent multiscale microstructures and the underlying deformation phenomena. The stress and strain fields predicted at a global structural level are unable to determine the damage and failure mechanisms at the constituent level and the resulting stiffness degradation. To establish a mapping relation between the global and constituent response parameters, a new four-cell micromechanics model is developed for an unbalanced weave subjected to a thermal–mechanical loading. The developed four-cell micromechanics model not only bridges the material response from one length scale to another but also quantifies the composite thermal–mechanical properties at a given state of constituent damage. The thermal–mechanical mapping relations at different microstructural levels are derived based on the multicell homogenization, intercell compatibility conditions, and energy methods. Because of the high computational efficiency of the developed thermal–mechanical micromechanics model, it can be linked with a finite-element-based dynamic progressive failure model, where the response parameters at different microstructural levels can be extracted for each Gaussian point and at each time step. The accuracy and the dual function of the developed micromechanics model are demonstrated with its application to a balanced plain weave, an unbalanced plain weave, and failure mode simulation of a tensile coupon test.