Elastic and strength analysis of hybrid 3D woven orthogonal composites: Numerical and analytical modelling

Modern advancement of the 3D woven composites made it possible to adjust the mechanical properties either by laying the fiber tows in a certain angle or by replacing the fibers having nominal mechanical properties with the fiber of higher mechanical properties in a certain proportion, which can be regarded as hybridization of reinforcement material. By adding the fibers with different mechanical properties arises the challenge of estimation of their elastic and strength properties. In the current study, an analytical model is developed based on the volume averaging method to predict the elastic and strength parameters for non-hybrid and hybrid 3D woven composites on the basis of two distinct geometric models. In the later section, the results are verified through numerical simulation on the representative volume element level using finite element simulations. Detailed geometry is constructed for a finite element mosaic model for a weave configuration and the results are verified by comparison with the experimental data. After validating the models successfully, fiber tows in a certain ratio are replaced with other materials to attain the hybridization of 3D woven composite. Finally, the results from the numerical simulation for hybrid and non-hybrid material system are obtained and compared with the analytical results which showed a close agreement among them, making the analytical model a useful tool for estimating the elastic and strength properties for hybrid 3D woven composites.