Abstract
This paper presents an improved constitutive model having application in finite element analysis of composites made of hyperelastic matrix with biased woven fabric reinforcement and is based on a pragmatic approach and the continuum mechanics theory. A generalised strain energy function is developed via a series of uniaxial tests in fibre warp and weft directions and via shear tests of representative samples of composite fabric. The proposed material characterisation approach is demonstrated on composites made of neoprene rubber matrix with nylon biased woven reinforcements having volume fraction composition 0·74 vol.-% neoprene and 0·26 vol.-% nylon. The material parameters in the anisotropic hyperelastic model are obtained by minimisation of least square residuals of uniaxial and pure shear energy densities against the respective strain invariants. Numerical simulations of uniaxial and bulge tests of the composites using the material model presented in this paper are shown to correspond well with results obtained from laboratory experiment.
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