Finite element analyses of tensile impact behaviors of co-woven-knitted composite from unit-cell approach

This paper reports finite element analyses of tensile impact behaviors of co-woven-knitted (CWK) composite from a unit-cell model. A unit-cell model was established to characterize the microstructure of the CWK composite. A vectorized user-defined material subroutine was written and connected with commercial finite element analysis (FEA) software package ABAQUS to calculate the tensile failure of the CWK composites. The FEA results were also compared with the experimental results of the CWK composites under high strain rate tension obtained from the split Hopkinson tension bar apparatus. The comparisons indicate that the FEA results agree well with the experimental results. The failure mechanisms of the CWK composite under the different strain rates are also discussed.