Elastic Behavior of Woven Fabric Composites: III — Laminate Design

Abstract

Two-dimensional woven fabric composite models were developed for the elastic analysis of WF composites in Part I of this paper. The effect of undulation of yarn and fabric thickness on the elastic properties of woven fabric lamina was studied. The study was extended to woven fabric laminates and the effect of laminate configuration on the elastic properties was analyzed in Part II. In the present paper, the effect of gap be tween two adjacent yams on the elastic properties of woven fabric lamina and the effect of laminate configuration for different number of layers on the elastic properties of woven fabric laminates for different material systems are studied. An optimum gap between adja cent yarns gives higher Young's moduli, and it depends upon the fabric structure and material system. A basic building block is found which gives higher elastic properties than with any other configuration with the same number of layers. Such a basic building block can then be used for making thicker laminates. The comparison of woven fabric laminates with UD cross-ply laminates indicated that, in general, the material system with lower de gree of orthotropy is desirable for woven fabric composites.