Mechanical behaviour prediction in plain weave composites

The correct application of woven fabric composites requires an accurate kno wledge of their mechanical behaviour, in terms of both global stiffness and strength. The aim of this paper is the development of a finite element (FE ) approach to the description of the mechanical response starting from the actual mesostructure of the material. Experimental observations identified the unit cell on the basis of symmetry considerations. Different stacking c onfigurations of the unit cell were considered. A global-local procedure wa s used to reduce the computational effort without losing computational accu racy. A damage model of the material under tensile load was defined and imp lemented in the FE code. A comparison with experimental stress-strain curve s validates the approach proposed.