Analysis of loading modes and rates on the mechanical responses of glass fiber weft-knitted biaxial tubular fabric reinforced composites

With the increasing demand for lightweight and high-strength tubes in the civil engineering, many researchers have investigated the weft-knitted biaxial tubular (WKBT) fabric reinforced composites due to their excellent mechanical properties. WKBT fabric is characterized by its seamless tubular reinforcement, with the warp yarns being straight in the axial direction and the weft yarns spinning in the circumferential direction. The mechanical response of WKBT fabric reinforced composites under three different loads (tensile load, puncture load, compression load) and three different rates (5, 10, 15 mm/min) are discussed in this paper. The results indicate that the mechanical properties and failure modes of WKBT fabric reinforced sheets are significantly affected by the glass fiber volume fraction. The concertina progressive folding is the energy absorption mode of WKBT fabric reinforced tubes under compressive load. The number of folds changes from two to three as the height of the tube increases. At the compression rate of 15 mm/min, the initial peak strength of the tubes increases by 28.14 % as their height (100, 150, 200 mm) of the tubes increases. The initial peak strength of the tubes increases by 72.78% as the compression rate increases to 200 mm height.