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Composite Structures 54 (2001) 489496

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Three-dimensional computational micro-mechanical model for


woven fabric composites
Ivelin Ivanov, Ala Tabiei *
The Center of Excellence in DYNA3D Analysis, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0070, USA

Abstract
This work presents a computational material model for plain-woven fabric composite for use in nite element analysis. The
material model utilizes the micro-mechanical approach and the homogenization technique. The micro-mechanical model consists of
four sub-cells, however, because of the existing anti-symmetry only two sub-cells have to be homogenized for prediction of the
elastic material properties. This makes the model computationally very ecient and suitable for large-scale nite element analysis.
The model allows the warp and ll yarns not to be orthogonal in the plane of the composite ply. This gives the opportunity to model
complex-shaped composite structures with dierent braid angles. General homogenization procedure is employed with two levels of
property homogenization. The model is programmed in MATLAB software and the predicted material properties of dierent
composite materials are compared and presented. The material model shows good capability to predict elastic material properties of
composites and very good computational eciency. 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords: Computational composite material model; Woven fabric composites; Textile composites; Finite element analysis

1. Introduction
Composite materials are being more and more utilized in many structures because of their high strength
and low weight. Nowadays they are used vastly in all
kinds of aerospace, automotive, marine vehicle structures, civil structures, etc. The woven fabric composites
have been recognized as more competitive than the
unidirectional composites because they have good reinforcement in all directions within a single layer. They
also have better impact resistance, better toughness and
low fabrication cost. Those properties make the woven
fabric composites attractive for many structural applications. Along with that however, the complex architecture of the woven fabric composites makes the
analysis of their behavior challenging.
In most of the detailed work concentrated on modeling the behavior of woven composite materials, the
unit cell approach is employed. The composite material
is divided into repeated cells, representing the properties
and the behavior of whole lamina. Ishikawa and Chou
[14] developed three analytical one-dimensional mod*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-513-556-3367; fax: +1-513-5565038.


E-mail address: ala.tabiei@uc.edu (A. Tabiei).

els, known as mosaic, crimp, and bridging models.


Those models consider only the undulation of the yarns
in the loading direction. The classical lamination theory
is the basic tool for those developments. Naik and
Shembekar [5] and Naik and Ganesh [6] extended the
one-dimensional models of Ishikawa and Chou to twodimensional elastic models. They used parallel-series
assumptions for their micro-mechanical models, based
again on the classical lamination theory.
Naik [7] developed three-dimensional elastic models
of woven and braided fabric composite materials. The
models were incorporated in a computer code called
TEXCAD, which is used for failure analysis of fabric
composites. The yarns are divided in many slices and
these slices are homogenized assuming sinusoidal undulation of the yarns. The homogenization of the material properties is based on iso-strain assumption.
Karayaka and Kurath [8] presented micro-mechanical model based on mixed boundary conditions isostrain, iso-stress homogenization technique. The bers
in interlaced cells are assumed straight. Tabiei and Jiang
[9] developed a micro-mechanical model based on nonlinear stressstrain relationship. The representative volume cell (RVC) is divided into many sub-cells and the
eective properties are obtained by an averaging technique. The model is proposed for nonlinear nite

0263-8223/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.


PII: S 0 2 6 3 - 8 2 2 3 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 1 2 1 - 0

490

I. Ivanov, A. Tabiei / Composite Structures 54 (2001) 489496

element (FE) codes to enable the structural analysis of


woven fabric composites.
Vandeurzen et al. [10] proposed a multilevel decomposition of RVC into small micro-cells and constituents.
The homogenization is based on complementary energy
method and the method of Lagrangian multipliers. A
FORTRAN code, labeled TEXCOMP-CEM, was developed for computing stiness, micro-stress eld and
rst-cell-failure of woven fabric composites.
The nite element method is a powerful method for
analysis of structures with complex geometry and conguration. It is utilized by Chapman and Witcomb [11]
to analyze the eect of assumed architecture on predicted moduli and stresses in woven composites. Blacketter et al. [12] incorporated failure model of
constituents in nite element model of woven composite
in order to predict the stressstrain curve and the ultimate failure of the composite.
The aim of the present work is to develop a computationally ecient three-dimensional micro-mechanical
model for woven composite material, suitable for largescale nite element analysis. The model is also suitable
for the nonlinear nite element method where repeated
calculations of the inelastic material properties take
place. The composite material models that involve too
many elements (sub-cells, slices, etc.) in the discretization of the RVC and in the homogenization process are
not computationally ecient in nite element structural
analysis. The simplicity of the micro-mechanical material model is important to its computational eciency.
In what follows, a new simple woven composite model is
presented.

2. The micro-mechanical model


The RVC approach is utilized in the micro-mechanical model development. The interlacing yarns of plain
weave fabric are depicted in Fig. 1. As a result of the
deformations, one can assume that either the textile
preform during the forming process of the composite
material or in the process of loading in the nonlinear
nite element analysis. The ll and the warp yarns are
not longer orthogonal to each other, although when
unloaded they could be orthogonal. The RVC in this

Fig. 2. Micro-mechanical model.

case is a rectangle in the plane of the composite lamina


with diagonals in the ber directions rather than a
square with mid-sides in the ber directions, which is
what usually used by other researchers.
The RVC structure is depicted in Fig. 2. The RVC is
divided into four sub-cells, two anti-symmetric sub-cells
containing the undulated ll-yarn and two other antisymmetric sub-cells containing the warp yarn. The direction of the yarn in each sub-cell is determined by two
angles the braid angle, h, and the undulation angle of
the yarn, which is dierent for the ll and warp-yarns, bf
and bw , respectively.
2.1. The homogenization procedure
Mixed boundary conditions, iso-strain and iso-stress
assumptions, are adopted here for the homogenization
of the constituents at each level of the homogenization
process for the RVC. The homogenization procedure is
quite general and it is formulated in [8]. The strain and
stress components of constituents are divided into two
groups three iso-strain components and three iso-stress
components as follows:

T
fegk fen gTk fes gTk k ;
1
frgk

frn gk

frs gk

T
k

where the n-subscript denotes iso-strain components, ssubscript denotes iso-stress components and k
1; 2; . . . ; N denotes the constituent. The stiness matrix
of each constituent is split into four 3  3 matrices as
follows:


Cnn k Cns k
Ck
;
3
Csn k Css k
where Cnn k and Css k are symmetrical matrices and
T
Csn k Cns k . The constitutive equations for each
constituent now can be written as follows:
frn gk Cnn k fen gk Cns k fes gk ;
frs gk Csn k fen gk Css k fes gk :

Fig. 1. Woven composite interlacing pattern.

4
5

The eective properties of the homogenized volume are


assumed to be volumetric averages of the constituent
properties. Because the strain and stress are the same at

I. Ivanov, A. Tabiei / Composite Structures 54 (2001) 489496

all points of each constituent volume, the eective strain,


feg, and the eective stress, frg, vectors can be expressed by the rule of mixture as follows:
N
X

feg

k1

frg

fk fegk ;

N
X
k1

fk frgk ;

where fk is the volume fraction of the kth constituent in


the homogenized volume. The eective strain and stress
vectors are related by the eective stiness matrix, C,
which is the ultimate aim of this procedure:
frg Cfeg:

Partitioning the eective stiness matrix into four matrices, the constitutive equations for the homogenized
material can be written as follows:
frn g C nn fen g C ns fes g;

frs g C sn fen g C ss fes g;

10

where

"

C nn C ns
C sn

C ss

#
:

11

fen g fen gk ;

12

frs g frs gk :

13

The rule of the mixture ((6) and (7)), applied to the rest
parts of the strain and stress components leads to the
following:
N
X
k1

frn g

fk fes gk ;

N
X
k1

14

fk frn gk :

15

Plugging (12) and (13) in (5) and solving, one obtains:


1

fes gk Css k frs g

Css k Csn k fen g:

16

Substituting the iso-strain components of strain in (4)


and again using (12) and (13), one obtains the following:


1
frn gk Cnn k Cns k Css k Csn k fen g
1

Cns k Css k frs g:

17

Next, by substituting (17) in (15) and (16) in (14), one


obtains the following:
rn

bC1 cfen g

es

bC3 cfrs g

where
C1
C2
C3
C4

N

X
fk Cnn k
k1

N
X
k1
N
X
k1
N
X
k1


Cns k Css k 1 Csn k ;

bC2 frs g;

18

bC4 cfen g;

19

20:1

fk Cns k Css k 1 ;

20:2

fk Css k 1 ;

20:3

fk Css k 1 Csn k :

20:4

Finally, the constitutive equations for homogenized


volume are obtained by solving (19) for frs g and substituting it in (18):
1

frs g C3 C4 fen g C3 fes g;

21



frn g C1 C2 C3 1 C4 fen g C2 C3 1 fes g:
22
The eective stiness matrix of the homogenized volume
can now be expressed as follows:
1

Applying the mixed boundary conditions on the constituents, one obtains the following:

fes g

491

C nn C1 C2 C3 C4 ;

23:1

1
C ns C2 C3 ;
1
C sn C3 C4
C ss C3 1 :

23:2
T

C ns ;

23:3
23:4

As a generalization of the homogenization procedure, it


can be summarized in the following three steps:
Choosing iso-strain and iso-stress components and
partitioning the constituent stiness matrices (3).
Calculating the interim matrices denoted by the starsuperscript (20.1)(20.4).
Calculating the partitions of the eective stiness matrix (23.1)(23.4).
The described homogenization procedure is used at two
levels of RVC homogenization. The rst level is the
homogenization of the yarn material and the matrix
resin material in the sub-cells with the material coordinate system of the yarn. Then after transformation of
the sub-cell stiness matrices in RVC coordinate system,
one can use homogenization of the material in the RVC
in order to obtain the eective stiness matrix of the
composite material.
2.2. The homogenization model
The starting point for the homogenization of the
material properties is the determination of the yarn and
matrix resin stiness matrices. The material of the yarn
is assumed to be transversely isotropic:

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I. Ivanov, A. Tabiei / Composite Structures 54 (2001) 489496


1

Cy Sy
2 1

E1
m12
E1
m12
E1

6
6
6
6
6
6 0
6
6 0
4
0

m12
E1
1
E2
m23
E2

0
0
0

m12
E1
m23
E2
1
E2

0
0
0

0
0
0
1
G12

0
0

0
0
0
0
1
G23

0
0
0
0
0
1
G12

7
7
7
7
7 ;
7
7
7
5

24

where E1 ; E2 ; m12 ; m23 ; G12 and G23 are Young's moduli,


Poisson's ratio, and the shear moduli of the yarn material, respectively. The material directions of the yarn
are given in Fig. 3. The matrix material is isotropic and
its stiness matrix is as follows:
3 1
2 1
m
m
0 0 0
E
E
E
1
m
6 m
0 0 07
E
E
7
6 Em
m
1
6
0 0 07
1
E
E
E
7 ;
Cm Sm 6
25
1
6 0
0
0
0 07
G
7
6
4 0
0
0
0 G1 0 5
0
0
0
0 0 G1
where E, m, and G are Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio
and the shear modulus of the matrix material, respectively.
The homogenization model at the rst level of homogenization, where the homogenization of the yarn
material and the matrix material in sub-cell is taking
place, is schematized in Fig. 4. We assume that the
matrix material is coated over the yarn and therefore
iso-strain boundary conditions in the direction of the
yarn and iso-stress boundary conditions in the crosssection of the yarn are imposed as follows:
ey1 em
ey4 em
ey6 em
1 ;
4 ;
6 ;
y
y
y
m
m
r2 r2 ; r3 r3 ; r5 rm
5 :

26

The contracted notation for strain and stress components adopted here is: 1 11, 2 22, 3 33, 4 12,
5 23, 6 31. At the rst level of homogenization, the
assumed volume fractions of the constituents are fy Vy
and fm 1 Vy , respectively, where Vy is the volume
fraction of the yarns. In the case of dierent volume
fractions of the ll and warp yarns, the proper volume fraction has to be calculated and used.
When the eective stiness matrix of each sub-cell is
determined in the material coordinate system, it is
transformed to RVC coordinate system. The transformation of the sub-cell stiness matrices from the material coordinate system of the yarn to the RVC
coordinate system is performed by the following formula:
T

C T C 0 T ;

27

where C is the stiness matrix in RVC coordinate


system, C 0 is the stiness matrix in material coordinate
system and T is the transformation matrix. The
transformation matrix T contains components depending on the directional cosines of the material axes
with respect to RVC coordinate system [13]:
T

l21
6 l2
6 2
6
6 l2
6 3
6
6 2l1 l2
6
6
4 2l2 l3
"

2l3 l1
T1
T3

m21

n21

m22

n22

m23

n23

2m1 m2

2n1 n2

2m2 m3

2n2 n3

7
7
7
7
l3 m 3
m3 n3
n3 l3
7
7
l1 m2 l2 m1 m1 n2 m2 n1 n1 l2 n2 l1 7
7
7
l2 m3 l3 m2 m2 n3 m3 n2 n2 l3 n3 l2 5

2m3 m1
#
T2
;
T4

2n3 n1

l3 m1 l1 m3 m3 n1 m1 n3 n3 l1 n1 l3

l1 m 1

m1 n1

n1 l1

l2 m 2

m2 n2

n2 l2

28
where
l1 cos b cos h; m1 cos b sin h; n1 sin b;
l2 sin h; m2 cos h; n2 0;
l3

Fig. 3. Yarn orientation.

Fig. 4. Homogenization model.

sin b cos h;

m3

sin b sin h;

29

n3 cos b

are the directional cosines of the material axes in RVC


coordinate system.
After the transformation, the sub-cell stiness matrices are generally anisotropic. The anti-symmetry
between both ll yarn sub-cells, as well as, between
both warp yarn sub-cells makes the calculations easier,
because only two sub-cell matrices are necessary to be
calculated and only two transformations are necessary
to be performed. One can easily prove that the stiness
matrix of ``F''-sub-cell in RVC coordinate system,
C F , is related to ``f''-sub-cell stiness matrix components in RVC coordinate system, Cijf , by the following
relation:

I. Ivanov, A. Tabiei / Composite Structures 54 (2001) 489496

2
6
6
6
C F 6
6
6
4

f
C11

f
C12
f
C22

sym

f
C13
f
C23
f
C33

f
C14
f
C24
f
C34
f
C44

f
C15
f
C25
f
C35
f
C45
f
C55

3
f
C16
f 7
C26
7
f 7
C36
7
f 7:
C46
7
f
5
C56
f
C66

30

The ``W''-sub-cell stiness matrix can be obtained from


the ``w''-sub-cell stiness matrix components by using a
similar relation. The transformed sub-cell stiness matrices are homogenized in order to obtain the eective
stiness matrix of the RVC.
At the second level of homogenization, the four subcell materials in RVC are homogenized to obtain the
eective stiness matrix of the RVC. The iso-strain
boundary conditions in the plane of the layer and isostress boundary conditions for out-of-plane stress components are imposed as follows:
ef1 ew1 eF1 eW
1 ;
ef2 ew2 eF2 eW
2 ;
ef4 ew4 eF4 eW
4 ;

31

rf3 rw3 rF3 rW


3 ;
rf5 rw5 rF5 rW
5 ;
rf6 rw6 rF6 rW
6 :

At the second level of homogenization, the volume


fractions of the constituents are equal, ff fw fF
fW 1=4.
The calculated eective stiness matrix represents the
elastic properties of the fabric material. Because of the
anti-symmetry of the sub-cells and the form of their
stiness matrices (Eq. (30)) in RVC coordinate system,
the form of the eective stiness matrix is as follows:
3
2
C 11 C 12 C 13 C 14
0
0
6 C 12 C 22 C 23 C 24
0
0 7
7
6
6 C 13 C 23 C 33 C 34
0
0 7
7:
32
C 6
6 C 14 C 24 C 34 C 44
0
0 7
7
6
4 0
0
0
0 C 55 C 56 5
0
0
0
0 C 56 C 66
In nite element implementation of the micro-mechanical model, only the non-zero components of the eective stiness matrix have to be calculated. For balanced
plain-woven fabric composite material, we have one
homogenization procedure at the rst level (warp and
ll yarns have the same volume fraction), two trans-

493

formations to obtain the stiness matrices of the ll and


the warp sub-cells, and then the second level homogenization procedure to obtain the sparse RVC eective
stiness matrix. This makes the code computationally
very ecient.

3. Predictions of the material model


Several examples for woven composite materials are
solved by means of the presented material model to
predict the elastic properties. The results are compared
with published data using dierent models. Two woven
composite models called ``four-cell model'' and ``onecell model'', recently developed by Tanov and Tabiei
[14] are included in all examples for comparison.
Example 1. Chung and Tamma [15] used a nite element model to determine the elements of the homogenized constitutive matrix of a plain-weave RVC. The
RVC consists of epoxy matrix and ber bundles, which
are 65% E-glass/epoxy. The values for the material
properties of the E-glass/epoxy yarns and the epoxy
matrix are presented in Table 1. The overall ber volume fraction is 0.35. Considering 0.65 ber volume
fraction in the yarns, the yarn volume fraction that is be
used instead the ber volume fraction is
Vy 0:35=0:65 0:5385. The average undulation angle
determined approximately from the nite element model
shown in [15] is tanb 1=6. The results for the RVC
properties from the upper and lower bound estimates
from [14,15], as well as, from the present model are
shown in Table 2. Tables 3 and 4 present results for the
homogenized RVC material constants with dierent
materials shown in Table 1. As seen, all values have very
good agreement.
Example 2. Results are compared with the nite element
based micro-mechanical methods of Marrey and Sankar
[16], and Dasgupta et al. [17]. The yarn is of glass/epoxy
with properties of E1 58:61 GPa, E2 14:49 GPa,
G12 5:38 GPa, m12 0:250, m23 0:247; the isotropic
matrix material is epoxy with E 3:45 GPa, and
m 0:37. The yarn volume fraction is Vy 0:26, and
from the RVC dimensions, the average undulation angle
was estimated to be b 4:2. The results from [16,17]
are compared to the present results in Table 5.

Table 1
Epoxy
65% E-glass/35% Epoxy
Timetalb 21-S
65% SCS-6/35% Timetal

E1 (GPa)

E2 (GPa)

G12 (GPa)

G23 (GPa)

m12

m23

3.5
47.77
112.0
293.88

3.5
18.02
112.0
253.84

1.3
5.494
41.8
93.46

1.3
3.877
41.8
83.08

0.35
0.314
0.34
0.278

0.35
0.249
0.34
0.2846

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I. Ivanov, A. Tabiei / Composite Structures 54 (2001) 489496

Table 2
C11
C12
C13
C22
C23
C33
C44
C55
C66

(GPa)
(GPa)
(GPa)
(GPa)
(GPa)
(GPa)
(GPa)
(GPa)
(GPa)

Upper bound

Lower bound

Four-cell model

Single-cell model

Present model

21.2
5.40
4.42
21.2
4.42
9.82
3.20
2.42
2.42

17.7
5.40
4.37
17.7
4.37
9.23
3.14
2.23
2.23

20.3
5.02
4.60
20.3
4.60
11.5
3.53
2.50
2.50

20.8
5.29
4.38
20.8
4.38
9.23
3.41
2.29
2.29

18.1
4.49
4.52
18.1
4.52
9.20
3.49
2.71
2.71

Table 3
E-glass/
epoxy

Ref. [14]

Four-cell
model

Single-cell
model

Present
model

Ex (Gpa)
Ey (Gpa)
Ez (Gpa)
Gxy (GPa)
Gyz (Gpa)
Gzx (Gpa)
mxy
myz
mzx

18.634
18.634
8.346
3.190
2.422
2.422
0.1745
0.3720
0.3720

17.853
17.853
9.788
3.529
2.497
2.497
0.1724
0.3321
0.3321

18.209
18.209
7.798
3.407
2.294
2.294
0.1739
0.3923
0.3923

15.569
15.569
7.398
3.485
2.712
2.712
0.1429
0.4206
0.4206

SCS-6/Timetal

Ref. [14]

Four-cell
model

Single-cell
model

Present
model

Ex (Gpa)
Ey (Gpa)
Ez (Gpa)
Gxy (GPa)
Gyz (Gpa)
Gzx (Gpa)
mxy
myz
mzx

196.05
196.05
174.15
67.23
60.00
60.00
0.2790
0.3180
0.3180

194.47
194.47
180.30
69.44
61.00
61.00
0.2810
0.3086
0.3086

196.32
196.32
170.60
68.83
59.15
59.15
0.2779
0.3237
0.3237

186.40
186.40
166.14
69.20
63.10
63.10
0.2719
0.3328
0.3328

Table 4

Example 3. The analytical/numerical model developed


by Aitharaju and Averill [18] was used there to solve a
problem previously presented by Whitcomb [19] by the
nite element method, and by Raju and Wang [20] by
the classical laminate theory. The properties of the ll
and warp yarns and the matrix are as follows: yarn;
E1 134 GPa,
E2 10:2 GPa,
G12 5:52 GPa,
G23 3:43 GPa, m12 0:30, m23 0:49; isotropic matrix
material: E 3:45 GPa, and m 0:35. The average un-

dulation angle was estimated as tanb 1=50, and Vy


was graphically expressed through the waviness ratio, k.
For k 0:167, Vy 0:94; for k 0:25, Vy 0:90; and
for k 0:5, Vy 0:81. The values for all properties are
normalized with respect to the equivalent properties of a
(0/90/90/0) laminate with the same directions, which
are: E1 72:5 GPa, E3 12:7 GPa, G12 5:5 GPa,
G23 4:3 GPa, m12 0:042, m13 0:30. Results are presented in Table 6.
Example 4. With this example the performance of the
present model is compared to the micro-mechanical
model of Tabiei and Jiang [9,21] and the experimental
results of Ishikawa et al. [22]. The RVC is described in
[21,22] and consists of yarns with properties
E1 137:3 GPa, E2 10:79 GPa, G12 5:394 GPa,
m12 0:26, m23 0:46, and isotropic matrix with
E 4:511 GPa, m 0:38. The RVC parameters of the
geometry are Vy 0:58, and b 1:4. As seen from
Table 7 the values of the moduli from the present approach are close to the analytical results from [21] and
the experimental results from [22].
The present model is programmed in MATLAB
software. The four-cell model and one-cell model of [14]
are also programmed in MATLAB. The computational
eciency of the three models is compared in Table 8.
The present model is the most ecient. The present
material model have tendency to give lower Young's
modulus for homogenized RVC material compared to
the others. Here the undulation angle used in the model
has to be the average undulation angle along the yarn
(or is measured from the top of the waved yarn to the
next bottom). The undulation angle used in the examples is either the maximal undulation angle or the

Table 5
Approach

Ex ; Ey (GPa)

Ez (GPa)

Gzx ; Gyz (GPa)

Gxy (GPa)

mxz ; myz

mxy

Ref. [16]
Ref. [17]
Four-cell model
Single-cell model
Present model

11.81
14.38
11.86
11.93
11.17

6.14
6.25
6.21
5.67
5.42

1.84
1.94
1.70
1.59
1.90

2.15
3.94
2.33
2.31
2.32

0.408
0.463
0.404
0.436
0.465

0.181
0.167
0.166
0.159
0.146

I. Ivanov, A. Tabiei / Composite Structures 54 (2001) 489496

495

Table 6
Waviness

Approach

E11

E33

G12

G13

m12

m13

0.167

Ref. [18]
Ref. [19]
Ref. [20]
Four-cell model
Single-cell model
Present model

0.9340
0.92
0.94
0.9419
0.9418
0.9316

0.9367
0.95

0.9456
0.9164
0.9152

0.9745
0.96
0.97
0.9573
0.9572
0.9571

0.9546
1.10

0.8961
0.8692
0.9133

1.0198
0.87
1.05
1.036
1.0295
0.9985

1.0029
1.10

0.9913
0.9998
1.5373

0.25

Ref. [18]
Ref. [19]
Ref. [20]
Four-cell model
Single-cell model
Present model

0.8978
0.88
0.92
0.9036
0.9040
0.8922

0.9061
0.93

0.9121
0.8695
0.8677

0.9617
0.94
0.95
0.9265
0.9263
0.9262

0.9318
1.14

0.844
0.8040
0.8690

1.0249
0.81
1.10
1.052
1.0408
0.9914

1.0033
1.14

0.9926
1.0044
1.5489

0.5

Ref. [18]
Ref. [19]
Ref. [20]
Four-cell model
Single-cell model
Present model

0.7746
0.75
0.79
0.8174
0.8188
0.8050

0.8157
0.84

0.8398
0.7787
0.7764

0.9242
0.87
0.87
0.7522
0.8569
0.8568

0.8636
1.22

0.7421
0.6878
0.7814

1.0242
0.60
1.25
1.098
1.0959
0.9916

1.0007
1.28

0.9954
1.0142
1.5718

Table 7

a
b

Approach

Ex ; Ey (GPa)

Ez (GPa)

Gzx ; Gyz (GPa)

Gxy (GPa)

mxz ; myz

mxy

Ref. [21]
Ref. [22]
Four-cell model
Single-cell model
Present model

46.35
48.3a /49.8b
45.08
45.17
44.31

10.12
9.782
9.643

2.763
2.585
2.971

3.83
5.41a /3.83b
3.815
3.813
3.814

0.4643
0.4784
0.4921

0.0538
0.062a /0.068b
0.0562
0.0542
0.0525

Number of plies 1.
Number of plies 4.

Acknowledgements

Table 8
Calculation eciency of the models using MATLAB

Number of oating
point operations

Present
model

Single-cell
model

Four-cell
model

6100

31 835

13 734

Computing support was provided by the Ohio Supercomputer Center. Their support is gratefully acknowledged.
References

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t to the geometry of the presented micro-mechanical
model.

4. Conclusions
The developed micro-mechanical material model of
plain-woven fabric composites is very simple and it is
computationally ecient. The present material model
shows very good capability to predict the elastic properties of composite structures. The material model has
non-orthogonal warp and ll yarns which gives the
model some generality. In addition, it provides the opportunity to analyze composite structures with ber reorientation using the nite element method.

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