Mechanical analysis of woven composites at high strain rates and its application to predicting impact behavior

The deformation behavior of woven composites at high strain rates was analyzed using a constitutive equation developed to describe the nonlinear, anisotropic/asymmetric and rate-dependent mechanical behavior of woven composites. The rate-dependent nonlinear behavior of woven composites was characterized at high strain rates (1 s−1 to 100 s−1) using a tensile testing method first proposed in this research. The material properties for the developed constitutive equation were determined and subsequently used in a finite element analysis of the deformation behavior of woven composites at high strain rates. Finally, the impact behavior of woven composites was predicted using the constitutive equation and the results were compared with experiments, showing that the current constitutive equation including the characterization method is adequate to describe the deformation behavior of woven composites at high strain rates up to impact level.