Prediction of elastic properties for woven z-pinned composites

Delamination occurs easily due to impact loads caused by the weakness of out-of-plane properties in composite materials. In order to overcome this problem of suppressing delamination, which is a critical weakness for composite materials, z-pinned composite material with reinforced out-of-plane elastic properties was developed by inserting z-pins into out-of-plane directions. In order to overcome the stability within the mutually orthogonal yarn direction of z-pinned composite material, a woven z-pinned composite was developed. This paper examines the effects of z-pin reinforcement on the elastic properties of composite materials as well as the changes in elastic properties used for the diameter of the z-pin, the length of the resin rich zone, and the length of yarn thickness by incorporating the graded fiber waviness that is created by the z-pin and graded warp and fill. As a result, we observed an increase in the out-of-plane properties of the woven z-pinned composite. Positive correlations were observed between the numerical model and experimental results. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.