Experimental analysis and modeling of biaxial mechanical behavior of woven composite reinforcements

This paper presents experimental studies on the mechanical behavior of fiber fabrics using a biaxial tensile device based on two deformable parallelograms. The cross-shaped specimens are well adapted to fabrics because of their lack of shear stiffness. Tension versus deformation curves, for different strain ratios, are obtained in the case of composite woven reinforcements used in aeronautic applications. It is shown that the tensile behavior of the fabric is strongly nonlinear due to the weaving undulations and the yarn contraction, and that the phenomenon is clearly biaxial. A constitutive model is described and identified from the experimental data. The essential role played by the yarn crushing will be pointed out.