A mechanical model of 3D braided composites with transverse and longitudinal cracks

A simplified model of 3D braided composites with transverse and longitudinal cracks is presented. By using the principle of minimum complementary energy, the stress components are obtained in closed-form expressions in terms of a perturbation function, which is governed by two fourth-order inhomogeneous ordinary differential equations. The effective Young's modulus and Poisson ratio of 3D braided composites with transverse and longitudinal cracks are calculated using the homogenization theorem. To demonstrate the solution, some examples are analyzed.