Compressive Strength Prediction of 3D Woven Textile Composites: Single RVE Multiscale Analysis and Imperfection Sensitivity Study

Results for the compressive strength of hybrid 3D woven textile composites (H3DWTCs) that consist of carbon, glass and kevlar fiber tows and a polymer matrix material, obtained through a combination of experiments and a multi-scale analysis of a single representative volume element (RVE), are presented. The RVE model considers micro scale based modeling, where tows are considered homogenized entities of fibers and matrix, and the matrix outside of fiber tow as an isotropic material. The homogenized tow is further analyzed via a 2scale model. The progressive failure modes of the fiber tow and matrix that are observed in experiments are seen to be captured by the models presented in this paper.