Meso/macro-mechanical behaviour of textile reinforcements for thin composites

The simulation of the drawing process for woven reinforcements aims at eval uating the possibility of forming a shape for a given fabric. The mode of d eformation during the forming of woven reinforcements is very specific and different from that for metal sheets. Knowledge of fabric behaviour is nece ssary. In the present work, this is studied experimentally by means of biax ial tests that bring out the influence of the geometric non-linearity, at t he mesh scale, on the macroscopic behaviour of the fabric. Models based on bar and yam theories, are identified from these tests and used in a specifi c finite-element formulation for fabrics. These elements are efficient sinc e they take into account only the tension stiffness of the yarns (the only one present in a fabric). Three-dimensional simulations of the elementary m esh supplement this study with local information. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.