Forming of Woven Fabric Composites

Forming woven fabric composites into complex parts consisting of double curvature shells leads to complex redistribution and reorientation of fibers in the composite. The thermo-mechanical performance of the molded part is highly dependent on this rearrangement. Consequently, prediction of the properties of double curvature parts requires good understanding of the structural rearrangement in each layer of the composite laminate. This paper presents the results of a study on the prediction of the complex rearrangement that occurs during molding of complex components made of woven fabric prepregs. The deformation of the composite laminate to conform to a given geometry has been modeled using the pin-jointed net idealization and the volume conservation assumption. Experimental measurements of the fiber orientation and the ply thickness variation have also been carried out on molded parts with double curvature shape made of different fabric structures. The numerical prediction has been found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements.