Comparing experimental results to a numerical meso-scale approach for woven fiber reinforced plastics

Meso-mechanical analysis, allowing for the study of local phenomena, is one of the strongest tools for the investigation of woven carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). A meso-scale representative volume element (RVE) of a twill weave CFRP ply is modeled, which consists of the yarn part, and the surrounding matrix region. The yarns are considered to be elastic and transversely isotropic. To obtain the material properties of the yarn, a hexagonal dense packing (HOP) RVE representing the microstructure inside a tow, is homogenized. Furthermore, isotropic elasto-plastic behavior is assumed for the neat matrix region at the meso-scale. The material model accounts for different yield strengths in tensile and compressive direction as well as pressure dependence. For the verification of the mesa-model and their homogenized results, experiments are conducted, which provide strains in a very high local resolution as well as the global response. The numerically and experimentally obtained strain fields as well as the global stress strain responses are compared. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.