Finite Element Modelling Of 3d Orthogonal Non-Crimp Woven Composites

This paper presents the results of a preliminary finite element analysis conducted for a 3D orthogonal non-crimp woven composite which explicitly, and for the first time, incorporates the through thickness z-binder yarns. A representative volume element (RVE) of the composite has been created to fully model the microstructural arrangement of yarns. The continuously changing material orientations in the z-binder yarns have been incorporated into the finite element software, ABAQUS, by means of input files generated with an open source code program, TEXGEN. The behaviour of the composite has been inspected for the cases of loading in warp and fill (weft) directions. The results show that the fill which is adjacent to the z-binder yarn will fail prior to the warp yarns due to the material's low transverse tensile strength. This phenomenon has been reported in the literature as transverse cracks in fill yarns for the case of loading in warp direction. Furthermore, only modest values of tensile stresses have been evaluated on the surfaces of z-crowns, which explain why no initial crack formation could be observed at those regions in experiments. With these results, better understanding of the micromechanical events occurring inside the 3D orthogonal non-crimp woven composite in case of loadings in warp and fill directions has been provided.