Meso-Scale Damage Modeling of Hybrid 3D Woven Orthogonal Composites Under Uni-Axial Compression

In this study, a detailed predictive numerical modeling technique is developed for three different kinds of hybrid and non-hybrid architectures of 3D woven orthogonal composites. A unit cell, full finite element meso model, is developed to simulate the elastic and damage progression behavior under uni-axial compression. Material systems for 3D woven Composites used in this study are Carbon/epoxy, Kevlar epoxy, and Hybrid formulation. The geometry of the constituents of the unit cell, fiber tows, and matrix, was determined through the microscopic analysis of the woven structures. The unit cell model used an idealized geometry without incorporating the fiber undulation which is a pervasive effect during the weaving process of 3D woven composites. Abaqus standard solver and a UMAT code incorporating the damage model within Abaqus was used to compute the deformation of the unit cell under in-plane compression loading. Moreover, determining the effect of void contents on the mechanical properties of the material, Balshin’s empirical equation was used to calibrate the input material parameters. The results from the numerical analysis are then compared with the experimental results and it is found that the predicted elastic modulus and compressive strength for all three types of architecture are in good agreement with the experimental results. Overall, the unit cell meso model furnished fairly accurate estimation of the compressive properties of 3D woven composites for different material systems with consideration of void contents.