Microstructure-based deep-drawing simulation of knitted fabric reinforced thermoplastics by homogenization theory

Process simulation of fiber reinforced composite materials is an important research theme for the development of low-cost and advanced functional composite materials. This paper aims at the simulation of deep-drawing process of knitted fiber reinforced thermoplastics and its verification. The feature of the simulation is that the large deformation of the knitted microstructures can be traced everywhere in the deep-drawn product. The homogenization theory is applied to analyze the micro-macro coupled behaviors of the knitted fabric composite material. By employing a simplified nonlinear computational algorithm, the deep-drawing simulation was carried out on a personal computer. The predicted largely deformed microstructures were compared with the experimental results. The numerical results and experimental ones agreed quite well. This deep-drawing simulation requires us to prepare only the mechanical properties of the constituents, while it provides us all the necessary quantities such as the deformation, strain, stress and stiffness from both microscopic and macroscopic standpoints. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.