Finite element analysis of composite forming at macroscopic and mesoscopic scale

Abstract Finite element analyses of composite reinforcement forming are presented at macroscopic and mesoscopic scale. Simulations of 3-D interlock fabric deformations are based on a hyperelastic model. The strain energy model uses the strain invariants representative to independent deformation modes of the interlock fabric. In a second part, a simulation at mescoscale of the deformation of a textile composite reinforcement is presented. The finite element model is obtained from X-ray computed tomography of the fabric in order to be close to the real geometry. The advantage of such an approach in comparison with the use of a textile geometrical modeler is shown.