Predicting the tensile stiffness and strength properties of plain woven carbon fiber/epoxy laminates: a practical analytical approach and experimental validations

The difficulties in establishing an analytical model for plain woven fabric composites (PWFC) and its implementation are well-accepted due to the complexity of yarn architecture, approximations assumed, and lack of experimental validations. In this paper, a practical engineering approach is proposed to predict the tensile properties of PWFC. The approach assumes PWFC as cross-ply, the undulation angle an elliptical shape. The approach tremendously simplifies the calculation keeping a close agreement with the tensile experimental results of PWFC. The approach is remarkably compatible with other theoretical models and experiments that existed in the literature.