Hierarchical modelling of textile composite materials and structures by the homogenization method

For the simulation of mechanical behaviours of textile composite materials and structures, a novel hierarchical modelling technique is proposed. Not only the global deformation but also the stresses at multiscales are analyzed precisely. Four-level hierarchy is defined for the textile composites such as woven and knitted fabric composites. The stresses at the mesostructure, which is a periodic unit cell of textile composite materials consisting of fibre bundles and matrix, can be evaluated accurately by the homogenization method and finite-element mesh superposition technique. The latter technique makes it possible to overlay arbitrary local fine mesh on the global rough mesh. Anisotropic damage mechanics is also utilized for strength evaluation at the mesoscale. Three-dimensional modelling of the mesostructure of woven and knitted fabric composite materials is shown. Localization analysis has been carried out within practical computational time and cost by the proposed hierarchical modelling.