Multi-scale Progressive Failure Analysis of Triaxially Braided Textile Composites

In this paper, the damage and failure behavior of triaxially braided textile composites was studied using progressive failure analysis. The analysis was performed at both micro and meso-scales through iterative cycles. Stress based failure criteria were used to define the failure states at both micro- and meso-scale models. The stress-strain curve under uniaxial tensile loading was drawn based on the load-displacement curve from the progressive failure analysis and compared to those by test and computational results from reference for verification. Then, the detailed failure initiation and propagation was studied using the verified model for both tensile and compression loading cases. The failure modes of each part of the model were assessed at different stages of failure. Effect of ply stacking and number of unit cells considered were then investigated using the resulting stress-strain curves and damage patterns. Finally, the effect of matrix plasticity was examined for the compressive failure behavior of the same model using elastic, elastic - perfectly plastic and multi-linear elastic-plastic matrix properties.