Characterization of the Orthotropic Elastic Constants of a Micronic Woven Wire Mesh via Digital Image Correlation

Woven structures are steadily emerging as excellent reinforcing components in dual-phase composite materials subjected to multiaxial loads, thermal shock, and aggressive reactants in the environment. Metallic woven wire mesh materials in particular display good ductility and relatively high specific strength and specific resilience. While use of this class of materials is rapidly expanding, a significant gap in property characterization remains. This research classifies the homogenized, orthotropic material properties of a representative twill dutch woven wire mesh through the use of in-plane uniaxial tensile experiments incorporating a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) strain measurement technique. Values for elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio are calculated from the experimental data, and shear modulus values are identified by means of constitutive modeling. This approach establishes a reproducible method for characterizing the in-plane elastic response of micronic metallic woven materials via macro-scale uniaxial tensile tests, and shows that a homogenous orthotropic constitutive model may be employed to describe the macro-scale elasticity of this class of materials with reasonable accuracy.