Multi-Scale Analyses of Three Dimensional Woven Composite 3D Shell With a Cut Out Circle

A composite material are made by combining two or more constituent materials to obtain the desired material properties of each product type. The matrix material which can be polymer and fiber is used as reinforcing material. Currently, the polymer matrix is widely used in many different fields with differently designed structures such as automotive structures and aviation, aerospace, marine, etc. because of their excellent mechanical properties; in addition, they possess the high level of hardness and durability together with a significant reduction in weight compared to traditional materials. However, during design process of structure, there will be many interruptions created for the purpose of assembling the structures together or for many other design purposes. Therefore, when this structure is subject to load-bearing, its failure occurs at these interruptions due to stress concentration. This paper proposes multi-scale modeling and optimization strategies in evaluation of the effectiveness of fiber orientation in an E-glass/Epoxy woven composite 3D shell with circular holes at the center investigated by FEA results. A multi-scale model approach was developed to predict the mechanical behavior of woven composite 3D shell with circular holes at the center with different designs of material and structural parameters. Based on the analysis result of laminae, we have found that the 3D shell with fiber direction of 45⁰ shows the best stress and strain bearing capacity. Thus combining several layers of 45⁰ fiber direction in a multi-layer composite 3D shell reduces the stresses concentrated on the cuts of the structures.