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Three-Dimensional Failure Analysis of Plain Weave Textile Composites Using a Global/Local Finite Element Method

Structures and Materials Department, Korea Aerospace Research Institute, P.O. Box 113, Yousong, Taejon 305-606, Korea

John D. Whitcomb

Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843-3141

Textile composites are known to have improved out-of-plane properties and impact resistance. However, detailed analysis of textile composites is very difficult to perform due to the geometric complexity. In the present study, a practical computational procedure based on a global/local finite element method was developed for detailed analysis of textile composites. This procedure utilizes two problem levels: global and local levels. At the global level, an initial global solution was obtained using a coarse global mesh. At the local level, a small portion of the textile composite was modeled with a refined local mesh. For the global analysis, macroelements were used since the use of effective engineering properties are not in general accurate for the larger microstructural scale found in textile composites.

Results indicated that the failure behavior of plain weave textile composites was sensitive to the fiber bundle waviness. The initial failure mode was the fiber bundle separation when the waviness ratio was large while it was the fiber bundle fracture when the waviness ratio was small. It was also found that the stress distributions near the free surface were different from those inside. The stress level was much higher inside than near the free surface. However, the boundary region was shallow and was limited to the outer-most layer.

Key Words: plain weave textile composites • global/local finite element method • macroelements • failure mode • waviness ratio • free boundary effect

Journal of Composite Materials, Vol. 30, No. 9, 984-1003 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/002199839603000902


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