Failure Behavior of Plain Weave Fabric Laminates under On-Axis Uniaxial Tensile Loading: I—Laminate Geometry

Mathematical expressions are presented for defining the geometry of the two-dimensional orthogonal plain weave fabric laminates. The geometry was defined with the view of developing the analytical models for the prediction of the thermo-mechanical behavior. The actual strand cross-sectional geometry. possible gap between adjacent strands, strand undulation and continuity along both the warp and fill directions are considered in the mathematical expressions. Simulated geometry was compared with the actual photomicrographs of the laminate cross sections. A good match was observed.