Mechanical analysis of three dimensional woven carbon fiber-reinforced composites using fiber-based continuum model

A new numerical method for analyzing the mechanical behavior of three-dimensional (3D) woven carbon fiber-reinforced composites was developed by considering changes in the fiber orientation and calculating the stress increments due to incremental deformations. The model consisted of four steps, starting update of the yarn orientation based on incremental deformation gradient. The stiffness matrix was then computed using the updated yarn orientation. Next, partial damage and propagation were incorporated into the stress calculation using modified ply discount method. The failure conditions were obtained by testing the unidirectional composites and formulated using Puck’s criterion. This numerical model was finally implemented into commercial finite element software, ABAQUS, as a user material subroutine. As for experiment, 3D woven composite samples was manufactured using laboratory built-in system and characterized, the results of which were compared with simulated results, demonstrating that the current numerical model can properly predict the mechanical behavior of 3D fiber-reinforced composites.