Multiscale Viscoelastic Analysis of Plain Weave Textile Composites

This paper outlines the prediction of a macroscopic viscoelastic response of plain weave textile composites made either from basalt or carbon fiber tows impregnated by polymeric matrix. Owing to a natural orthotropic response at the level of yarns, the calibration of a simple meso-scale constitutive model from virtual laboratory tests is precluded and a fully coupled analysis is needed instead. One option is solving the problem in the framework of FE analysis when both the micro- and meso-scale problems are solved with the help of the finite element method. This requires formulation of a suitable computational model most often represented by a statistically equivalent periodic unit cell on both scales. However, such an approach may prove computationally expensive particularly at stages of initial design where a large parametric study is often needed to test various material and geometrical configurations. A suitable method of attack then arises from the application of computationally efficient classical micromechanical models such as the Mori-Tanaka (MT) method. This approach is examined in the present study. While the present work is mostly computational, it requires an extensive experimental program to tune the generalized Leonov constitutive model describing the behavior of the matrix phase. Additionally, a series of virtual laboratory tests is carried out at the level of yarns to improve the predictive capability of the MT method.