Mechanical Behavior and Fracture Mechanism in Flat Braided Composites. Part 1: Braided Flat Bar

Abstract

In this article, the tensile behaviors of braided flat bar are discussed. Braided flat bars are fabricated with glass fiber and epoxy resin. Consequently, it can be confirmed that reinforcements which continuously orient in braided composites highly contribute to the rise of tensile properties. Moreover, the numerical analysis method is proposed for estimating the tensile behaviors of braided flat bar. An analytical model can be developed to consider the continuity and crimp of fibers, and can faithfully express the braiding structure. The calculation time and the waste can be reduced by using this analy sis method, because an analytical model consists of few nodes and elements. The validity of this analysis method is examined by comparing predicted results with experimental data and then the predicted results well agree with experimental data. Accordingly, it was clear that the tensile behavior of the braided flat bar could be estimated by this analysis method.