Analytical Solutions for Predicting Tensile and Shear Moduli of Triaxial Weave Fabric Composites

Novel micromechanical curved beam models were presented for predicting the tensile and shear moduli of triaxial weave fabric (TWF) composites by considering the interactions between the triaxial yarns of 0° and ±60°. The triaxial yarns in micromechanical representative unit cell (RUC) were idealized as curved beams with a path depicted using the sinusoidal shape functions, and the tensile and shear moduli of TWF composites were derived by means of the strain energy approach founded on micromechanics. In order to validate the new models, the predictions were compared with the experimental data from literature. It was shown that the predictions from the new model agree well with the experimental results. Using these models, the tensile and shear properties of TWF composites could be predicted based only on the properties of basic woven fabric.