ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE FOR THE PREDICTION OF ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF PLAIN KNITTED FABRIC-REINFORCED COMPOSITES

This paper presents an analytical method for predicting the elastic pr operties of plain-knitted fabric-reinforced composites. Firstly, a geo metrical model suitable for expressing the orientation of knitted fabr ic has been identified. Equations have been developed for estimating t he fibre content of the composite. The effects of yarn linear density and knitted fabric stitch density on the fibre content of the composit e are predicted. Based on the laminated plate theory, a 'cross-over mo del' has been proposed. As the name suggests, this model considers the cross-over of curved yarns of knitted fabric. Owing to their curved f ibre architecture, the knitted fabric composites are heterogeneous wit h resin and fibre-rich regions. The elastic properties of the composit e were determined by combining the effective elastic properties of the curved yarns and the resin-rich regions. Elastic properties of knitte d fabric composites with different fibre contents were computed. The a nalytical method has been validated by comparing one set of experiment al results with the predictions. The applicability and limitation of t his model have been discussed. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevie r Science Limited.