Meso/macro-mechanical behaviour of textile reinforcements for thin composites

The simulation of the drawing process for woven reinforcements aims at evaluating the possibility of forming a shape for a given fabric. The mode of deformation during the forming of woven reinforcements is very specific and different from that for metal sheets. Knowledge of fabric behaviour is necessary. In the present work, this is studied experimentally by means of biaxial tests that bring out the influence of the geometric non-linearity, at the mesh scale, on the macroscopic behaviour of the fabric. Models based on bar and yarn theories, are identified from these tests and used in a specific finite-element formulation for fabrics. These elements are efficient since they take into account only the tension stiffness of the yarns (the only one present in a fabric). Three-dimensional simulations of the elementary mesh supplement this study with local information.