Abstract

In recent years, woven fabric reinforced composites have been widely used in the aircraft and automotive industry due to their high specific strength and stiffness, superior damage tolerance, and high drapability. In the production of 3D shaped complex parts from woven fabric reinforced composites, the draping behavior of the fabric is of great importance. Finite element analysis is one of the most effective methods to predict the draping behavior of fabric reinforcement before the production. Achieving successful results in the finite element analysis of the draping process requires a comprehensive material characterization of the woven fabric reinforcement. Three major deformation mechanisms: tensile, in-plane shear, and bending are very effective on the macro-scale draping behavior of woven fabrics. Therefore, the parameters of macroscopic material models developed for most fabric draping simulations are usually obtained by tensile, shear and bending characterization tests. In this study, tensile and shear characterization tests of a twill-woven carbon fabric was carried out. In addition, each experimental test was validated with finite element simulations. Results reveal that the picture-frame test result was close to the numerical results; the exact match of the results was not achieved. The bias extension test results were in good agreement up to the shear angle value at which the fiber slippage occurs.

Keywords:Polyphenylene sulfide; Thermoplastic composite; Woven carbon fiber fabric; Thermoforming; Simulation; Defects