Micromechanical modeling approaches for the stiffness and strength of knitted fabric composites: a review and comparative study

Knitted fabric reinforced composites have been investigated widely in recen t years. A number of different micromechanical modeling schemes have been p roposed in the published literature for various types of knitted fabric com posites. However, to date, no comparative study has been made to evaluate t he suitability of different modeling schemes to predict the stiffness and s trength properties of knitted fabric composites. This paper presents a revi ew of currently developed micromechanical modeling techniques for predictin g the stiffness and strength of knitted fabric composites. Further, a compa rative study of the predictive capabilities of various techniques is carrie d out based on a plain weft knitted glass fiber fabric reinforced epoxy mat rix composite. Useful conclusions are drawn based on the comparative study. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.