Numerical and experimental analyses of woven composite reinforcement forming using a hypoelastic behaviour. Application to the double dome benchmark

Continuous textile reinforcements hold crucial role when composites are employed as load bearing components. Numerical simulations of the composite forming processes are essential in the design phase of the composite structures. The continuous approach predicts the mechanical characteristics of woven composite fabrics during forming which considers the fibrous materials as a continuum in average at macroscopic scale. An algorithm based on a hypoelastic behaviour is proposed for the simulation of composite reinforcement forming processes. It is shown here that using hypoelastic law with an objective derivative based on the warp and weft fibre rotation tensors can correctly trace the specific behaviour of the woven materials. A number of elementary tests validate the numerical output with theoretical results and the de facto standard in-plane shear test of picture frame has also been validated numerically. An experimental device for textile composite forming on a double dome has been implemented. This forming case has been defined as an international benchmark of woven composites. The simulations performed with the proposed numerical approach show a good agreement with the experimental results obtained with this double dome device. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.