On the evaluation of in-plane elastic behaviour of woven fibre metal laminates under uniform loading

This article deals with the non-linear behaviour of woven fibre metal laminates (WFMLs). A theoretical micromechanical model has been proposed. for the plain-wave fabric-reinforced flexible composite with two surface-bonded metal layers under biaxial loading. The constitutive equations are derived through a strain energy approach and energy variation theorem based on the microstructure of composites. The modelling strategy starts with a geometrical description of the yarn and the unit cell and fibres are assumed to be in a sinusoidal shape. Meanwhile, a simple and conventional analytical technique is applied to predict the tensile properties of WFMLs. Stress-strain behaviour of such structure plates under uniform uniaxial loading are illustrated in figures. The proposed integrated micro mechanical model shows excellent agreement with the three-dimensional finite-element results. Finally, a parametric study is performed using the presented models to investigate the effect of thickness of metal layers on the elastic properties of the composite.