Multiscale modelling of thermoplastic woven fabric composites: From micromechanics to mesomechanics

The mechanical properties of woven composites can be predicted by using a multiscale modelling approach. The starting point to its application is the microscale (the level of fibres, matrix and interfaces), that allows the computation of the homogenised behaviour of the yarn. The aim of this work was to predict the yarn-level behaviour of a thermoplastic-based woven composite in order to allow the formulation of a representative constitutive model that can be used to predict ply properties at the mesoscale. To accomplish this purpose, an in situ characterisation of the microconstituents was carried out. This served to generate inputs for three different representative volume element (AVE) models that allowed predicting the yarn longitudinal, transverse and shear responses. These mechanical characteristics allowed the determination of homogenised yarn constitutive behaviour which was found to be characterised by significant non-linearity until failure, specially in transverse and shear directions.