MESH-FREE MICROMECHANICAL MODEL FOR WOVEN FABRIC COMPOSITE ELASTIC MODULI

Abstract

In this paper, a mesh-free micromechanical material model for evaluation of woven fabric composite elastic moduli is developed. A new and realistic material model based on repeated unit approach with smooth fiber modes is presented. The mesh-free formulation is achieved through consideration of variation of potential energy in a similar manner to the finite element method. Radial basis functions are used as the approximation function in the mesh-free method developed. As no formal element mesh is used to model the matrix, fill and wrap in this approach, the simplicity in meshing is particularly notable. The results obtained for elastic moduli of woven fabric composites are shown to be accurate and in agreement to other available solutions.