Abstract
In this paper, the shear properties of a number of woven and non-crimp (multiaxial warp knit) fabrics are analysed. These are shown to be related to the fibre architecture and, for non-crimp fabrics, the pattern and orientation of the stitching thread. A detailed geometric model has been developed for the deformation of woven fabrics during in plane shear, and this is used as a basis for a mechanical analysis to predict shear compliance. This model incorporates intertow friction, tow compaction, and in plane (membrane) tension. Finally an iterative model for fabric forming is described, based on fabric shear energy obtained either from the mechanical model or from experimental measurements. This is validated for a hemisphere and an automotive transmission tunnel and is shown to offer greater accuracy than the traditional geometric mapping, while associated computation times are at least an order of magnitude lower than those associated with non-linear finite element analysis.
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