PREDICTING THE MECHANICAL-PROPERTIES OF NONWOVEN GEOTEXTILES WITH THEFINITE-ELEMENT METHOD

A new computer model is developed to predict the tensile behavior of n onwoven fabrics from the stress-strain behavior of their constituent f ibers and distributions of fiber orientation angles. The finite elemen t method is used to calculate the numerical solution of stress and str ain distribution in different regions of the samples during tensile de formation. Stress-strain curves of fabrics are simulated. Tensile test ing is done on several nonwoven fabrics to verify the simulated result s, which are in a good agreement with those obtained from tensile expe riments.