Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360

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Composites Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compscitech

Hyperelastic model for large deformation analyses of 3D interlock

composite preforms
A. Charmetant, J.G. Orliac, E. Vidal-Sallé ⇑, P. Boisse
Université de Lyon, LaMCoS, INSA-Lyon, F-69621 Villeurbanne, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A hyperelastic constitutive law is proposed to describe the mechanical behaviour of 3D layer to layer
Received 14 February 2012 angle interlock composite reinforcements. The objective of this model is to simulate shaping of thick
Received in revised form 4 May 2012 textile preforms for RTM processes. After the identification of the independent deformation modes of
Accepted 6 May 2012
initially orthotropic reinforcements, a strain energy potential is built up based on strain invariants rep-
Available online 15 May 2012
resentative to those modes assuming an additive composition of them. The parameters of the proposed
constitutive model are identified using standard and specific mechanical tests performed on a 3D inter-
Keywords:
lock material. Then, the model is validated on forming simulations on a single curve and double curve
A. Fabrics/textiles
B. Non-linear behaviour
shapes. Three point bending tests on thick interlock reinforcements have been analysed experimentally
C. Anisotropy and numerically. The specific transformation of cross sections is depicted by the proposed hyperelastic
C. Finite element analysis model.
Hyperelasticity Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The need of energy saving is the first reason of the increasing
use of lightweight structures. Among them, composite structures
are widely used. In the transportation industry like for example
in the aeronautics, this increase passes through the use of compos-
ite materials in critical parts such as turbine blades or central wing
boxes [1]. Laminated composites with 2D layered reinforcements
have been successfully used for several decades for aircraft con-
struction [2], civil engineering [3] for example. Nevertheless appli-
cation of 2D laminated composites is restricted by their low
resistance to delamination cracking due to their limited interlam-
inar fracture toughness. In order to overcome this difficulty,
composite preforms with 3D architecture have been proposed.
Among them, layer to layer angle interlocks are among the most
interesting [4–6]. Nevertheless the achievement of the forming
process that leads to an optimal preform is difficult. To avoid rely-
ing on time consuming trial-and-error techniques numerical tools
for predicting the reinforcement deformation during forming are
presently under development. In the last decades, some effort
has been produced to develop algorithms for the simulation of
textile reinforcement forming [7]. The first methods used to simu-
late the draping process are kinematical models more known as
fishnet algorithms [8,9]. Those methods are efficient and need a
small numerical effort. But their main drawback is their incapabil-
ity to account for the mechanical behaviour of the studied
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 4 72 43 81 46; fax: +33 4 72 43 85 25.
E-mail address: emmanuelle.vidal-salle@insa-lyon.fr (E. Vidal-Sallé).
reinforcement and for the loads applied on the preform. That is
the reason why mechanically based methods have been developed
afterwards. Most of them are based on the finite element method
in which the textile reinforcement material can be considered as
a discrete assembly of yarns [10–15] or as a continuous material
which constitutive behaviour accounts for the specific textile
behaviour. Several models have been built for 2D continuous fibre
woven or knitted reinforcements. They frequently use hypo-elastic
approaches [16–20]. It has been shown [21] that Green–Naghdi
and Jaumann classically used objective derivatives (and available
in most finite element codes) cannot be used for textile materials
which exhibit strong anisotropic behaviour. Some hyperelastic
models have been developed for thin (2D) textile materials. Those
models, written in the initial configuration do not need that objec-
tive derivative [22,23].
The deformation modes of interlock reinforcements are specific.
The interlock weaving creates a bond between the warp and weft
yarn layers. There are however some possible sliding otherwise
the forming would be impossible. The deformation is mainly
guided by the very large tension stiffness of the yarns. Nevertheless
the other rigidities (shear, compaction) are important in the case of
loadings without yarn tension. This is the case of the bending test
analysed in Section 5. The preforms can be very thick in some
places which lead to choose a three-dimensional modelling as it
is done in the present paper. In addition it will be shown in Section
5.2 that the bending deformation does not verify the Kirchhoff
plate kinematics.
Few models are available for layer-to-layer angle interlocks.
One of them [24] uses semi-discrete hexahedral finite elements

0266-3538/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2012.05.006
 A. Charmetant et al. / Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360
made of segment yarns immerged in a continuous medium This
model is efficient in most interlock reinforcement forming simula-
tions but some difficulties has been highlighted to simulate the
kinematics of bending tests (such as those shown below). The
present paper proposes a hyperelastic model for layer to layer an-
gle interlock thick reinforcements. This model aims to describe
properly all the deformation modes of interlock preforms in partic-
ular for large bending.
Based on an approach of the same nature as the one used by the
authors for the modelling of a single fibrous yarn [25], this paper
proposes a new hyperelastic constitutive law for 3D layer to layer
angle interlock preforms.
In the hyperelastic framework for initially orthotropic materi-
als, the proposed model is described based on the identified
elementary deformation modes. The strain energy potential is
defined for those deformation modes and the identification proce-
dure is given. In a second part, comparisons between experiments
and simulations are presented and discussed in the case of the
forming of a hemispherical thick preform and of three point
bending.
2. Anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive equation
2.1. Hyperelasticity framework
The existence of a potential energy (per undeformed unit vol-
ume), function of the gradient strain tensor F can be assumed
[26] which satisfies the principle of material indifference. This
strain energy density is a function that can be written as a function
of the strain tensor
C : w ¼ wðCÞ with C ¼ F T :F
Function w must be mathematically isotropic. The dependence of
the strain energy potential on the material privileged directions
can be introduced explicitly using any scalar, vectorial, or tensorial
functions relative to any anisotropy. For that, the strain energy den-
sity function must use structural tensors representative of the
anisotropy of the material.Finally, the hyperelastic constitutive
equation derives from the strain energy density function and the
second Piola Kirchhoff stress tensor S is obtained. The Cauchy stress
tensor can then be calculated from S using the deformation gradient
tensor F:
1 @w T
r¼ F F ð2Þ
J @C
2.2. Orthotropy frame and orthotropic hyperelasticity
Like 2D reinforcements, interlocks are made of the interlacing of
warp and weft yarns which are perpendicular to each other in the
reference (initial) configuration. In the present work, the homoge-
nised material has three privileged directions: the warp direction
M1, the weft direction M2 and a third direction perpendicular to
the others, M3 which corresponds to the preform thickness.
As mentioned in [27], the symmetry group for such kind of
material is characterised by three structural tensors:
M 1 ¼ M 1  M 1 ; M2 ¼ M2  M2 and M 3 ¼ M3  M 3
The representation theorems [28–29] lead to write the strain
energy density function of a hyperelastic law as:
worth ¼ worth ðI1 ; I2 ; I3 ; I41 ; I42 ; I43 ; I412 ; I423 ; I51 ; I52 ; I53 Þ
where I1, I2, I3 are the invariants of C defined by:
1353
I1 ¼ TrðCÞ ¼ k21 þ k22 þ k23
1
I2 ¼ ðTrðCÞ2  TrðC 2 ÞÞ ¼ ðk1 k2 Þ2 þ ðk1 k3 Þ2 þ ðk2 k3 Þ2 ð5Þ
2
I3 ¼ DetðCÞ ¼ ðk1 k2 k3 Þ2
and where
I4i ¼ C : M i ¼ M i  C  Mi ; I4ij ¼ M i  C  Mj and
I5i ¼ C 2 : M i ¼ Mi  C 2  Mi ði ¼ 1; 3Þ ð6Þ
are the mixed invariants corresponding to the structural tensors.
2.3. Uncoupling assumption
It is assumed here that the contribution of each deformation
mode is independent from the others, which allows writing the
strain energy density function as the summation of n strain energy
density functions. Then, the derivative of w can be written as:
@w X n
@wi @Ii
¼ ð7Þ
@C i¼1
@Ii @C
where Ii is the strain invariant representative to the ith deformation
mode and n the total number of independent deformation modes.
3. Deformation modes of 3D interlock reinforcements
Hypo-elastic constitutive equations for woven materials with
several fibre directions can be built [20] but they require either
the use of strong assumptions or the use of complex tools of
differential geometry [30]. In addition, they generally do not allow
recovering after a closed loop loading path [23]. An alternative that
ð1Þ avoids these drawbacks is to develop hyperelastic models for non-
linear anisotropic materials, using structural tensors [27,31]. The
assumption made here is that the anisotropic directions are ini-
tially orthogonal, making the material initially orthotropic. Due
to the large in-plane shear that can exhibit a woven preform during
forming, the material does not remain orthotropic and becomes
anisotropic.
In a previous paper [25], the authors have proposed a trans-
versely isotropic hyperelastic model able to describe the mechan-
ical behaviour of a single yarn made up of thousands of
continuous fibres and considered as a 3D domain. A procedure of
the same nature is used here to build a hyperelastic constitutive
equation for thick interlock composite reinforcements.
3.1. Deformation modes
Six deformation modes can be identified for a 3D interlock fab-
ric: stretch in the warp direction; stretch in the weft direction;
transverse compression of the reinforcement; in-plane shear;
transverse shear in the warp direction; transverse shear in the weft
direction. Those deformation modes are illustrated in Fig. 1.
3.2. Invariant definitions
For each deformation mode, a strain invariant can be defined
based on physical observations.
ð3Þ
3.2.1. Stretch invariants in warp and weft directions
The above defined I41 and I42 invariants (see Eq. (6)) correspond
to the square of the stretches in the warp and weft directions.
ð4Þ Consequently, they can be used directly to characterise the stretch
deformation modes and the corresponding derivatives with re-
spect to
1354 A. Charmetant et al. / Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 1. Deformation modes of layer to layer interlock reinforcements (a) transverse compression, (d) in-plane shear, (b and e) stretches, (c and f) longitudinal shear.

c ¼ ðM1 ; M2 Þ  ðm1 ; m2 Þ ð11Þ

As (M1, M2) is equal to 90°, one can also write:
m1  m2
sinðcÞ ¼ ð12Þ
km1 kkm2 k
Consequently, the in-plane shear invariant and its derivative
can be defined by:
I421
Icp ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ¼ sinðcÞ and
I41 I42
@Icp 1 Icp Icp
Fig. 2. Transverse compression of interlock reinforcement cannot be directly linked ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ðM 1  M 2 þ M 2  M1 Þ  M1  M2 ð13Þ
to the length of the covariant vector m3.
@C 2 I41 I42 2I41 2I42

C:
pffiffiffiffiffiffi 3.2.4. Transverse shear invariants
Iaelong ¼ lnð I4a Þ a ¼ 1; 2 and In a similar way, one can define transverse shear using similar
@Iaelong 1 invariants:
¼ Ma a ¼ 1; 2 ð8Þ
@C 2I4a I4a3
Icta ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ¼ sinðca3 Þða ¼ 1; 2Þ ð14Þ
I4a I43
3.2.2. Transverse compression invariant and their derivatives:
A specific strain invariant must be defined for the transverse
@Icta 1
compression of the reinforcement which is not linked to the covar- ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ðMa  M 3 þ M 3  Ma Þ
@C 2 I4a I43
iant vector m3 associated to the privileged direction M3 of the
reference configuration: for example, for a transverse shear (see Icta Icta
 Ma  M3 ða ¼ 1; 2Þ ð15Þ
Fig. 2), vector m corresponds, in the deformed configuration, to 2I4a 2I43
vector M of the initial one. Vector m is calculated from:
4. Strain energy potential identification
m¼F M ð9Þ

The covariant vector m3 direction changes but its length does 4.1. Studied reinforcement
not. Nevertheless, the reinforcement exhibits a transverse com-
pression. In the constitutive model for the yarn, that deformation The material used in the present study has been designed by
mode is taken into account from the ratio between the total SNECMA. Its thickness is large enough to be representative in
volume change and the stretch. By extension the compression terms of mechanical behaviour. The warp and weft yarns are both
invariant is defined using the total volume change divided by the made up of 48,000 carbon fibres (48 K). The architecture and the
two stretches. The invariant and its derivative with respect to dimension of the weaving is shown in Fig. 3 by X-ray tomography
  images of the material. The material is nearly balanced so that
1 I3 some strain energy density functions are assumed to be identical
C are : Icomp ¼ ln and
2 I41 I42 for both yarn directions.
 
@Icomp 1 1 1
¼ C 1  M1  M2 ð10Þ
@C 2 I41 I42 4.2. Parameter identification

4.2.1. Tension in warp and weft directions

3.2.3. In-plane shear invariant
The in-plane shear deformation mode is characterised by the
angle variation between warp and weft directions. The angle vari-
ation between the two covariant vectors m1 and m2 is defined by:
Because the interlock reinforcement is nearly balanced, the
mechanical behaviour in tension is supposed to be identical in
warp and weft directions. A tensile test is realised on a
35  275 mm sample (see Fig. 4). Two distinct parts can be identi-
fied: a first part with a low stiffness corresponding to a decrease of
 A. Charmetant et al. / Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360 1355

 0
1K i 2 i 0
 2 elong ðIelong Þ ifIelong 6 Ielong
wielong ¼
 1 K elong ðIi 0 2 1 0 0 i
ifIielong > I0elong
2 elong  Ielong Þ þ 2 K elong Ielong Ielong

ð16Þ
The corresponding second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensors are
(without summation):
@wielong
Sielong ¼ 2
@C
 0
1  2K elong Ielong ifIelong 6 Ielong
i 0

¼ Mi  ð17Þ
I4i  2K elong ðIelong  I0 Þ þ K 0 I0 ifIelong > I0elong
elong elong elong

4.2.2. Transverse compression

A compression test has been realised on a 50  50 mm sample.
Experimental and numerical results are shown in Fig. 5. The strain
energy density function is assumed to be:
" !p #
Icomp Icomp
wcomp ¼ K comp 1 p 1 ð18Þ
I0comp I0comp

Coefficient I0comp corresponds to the theoretical threshold value

of Icomp for a reinforcement compression equal to 100%. It can be
Fig. 3. Studied interlock.
determined from the mass mepr and initial volume V0 of the speci-
men and qcarb, the mass density of the bulk carbon material.
 
1 mepr
I0comp ¼ ln ð19Þ
2 qcarb V 0
The second Piola–Kirchhoff stress tensor is then:
2 !p1 3
 
pK 0comp Icomp 1 1
Scomp ¼ 4 1  15 C 1  M1  M2
I0comp I0comp I41 I42

ð20Þ

4.2.3. In-plane shear

Fig. 4. Tensile test in the interlock sample (prescribed displacement).
the yarns undulation, and a second part, for which the stiffness is
larger and can be considered as constant in a first approximation.
A parameter I0elong defines the threshold between those two behav-
iours. The associated strain energy density functions are:
The in-plane shear mechanical behaviour of the material is
identified using a bias extension test. A tensile test is performed
on a rectangular specimen such as the warp and weft directions
of the tows are oriented initially at ±45° to the direction of the ap-
plied load (Fig. 6) [32]. The tensile force is measured as a function
of the shear angle (see Fig. 6). It allows identifying the strain en-
ergy density function of Eq. (21). Like for the tensile test, two
behaviours are identified. For small shear angles, the behaviour is
nearly quadratic and becomes exponential for larger angles. The
threshold between both behaviours is given by I0cp :

 w1 ðIcp Þ if Icp 6 I0
 cp cp
wcp ðIcp Þ ¼  2 ð21Þ
 wcp ðIcp Þ else

Fig. 5. Strain energy (a) and Cauchy stress for transverse compression (b).
1356 A. Charmetant et al. / Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360

Fig. 6. Experimental bias extension test for a thick interlock reinforcement.

with: All the material parameters identified are summarised in

Table 1.
w1cp ðIcp Þ ¼ K cp12 I2cp þ K cp13 I3cp ;
w2cp ðIcp Þ ¼ K cp21 ð1  Icp Þp22 þ wcp20 ð22Þ
5. Comparisons between simulations and experiments
Function wcp must be a C2 class function, which implies some
relations between all the above defined parameters. Finally, one 5.1. Deep drawing with a hemispherical punch
can define:
In order to validate the proposed hyperelastic model, simula-
K cp12 ¼ K20 K cp13 ¼ K 16IK
0
0
K cp21 ¼ K2p 22
Icp ð1  I0cp Þ1þp22
0 þK 1 0
tions are realised on deep drawing with a hemispherical punch.
cp

K 1 ð23I0cp ÞK 0 I0cp

p22 ¼ I0cp ðK 0 þK 1 Þ
wcp20 ¼ w1cp ðI0cp Þ  w2cp ðI0cp Þ
A Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is used to identify all the
values (Table 1).
For such test, the tensile strain energy is assumed to be zero be-
cause the yarn extension is negligible taking its large stiffness into
account.
4.2.4. Transverse shears
Transverse shear tests have been realised using an on-purpose
device (see Fig. 7a and b). Shear along warp and weft direction
tests have been prescribed in order to identify both strain energy
density functions. Two parallel planes are fixed to the sample
and impose pure transverse shear strains to the specimen. The
strain field homogeneity is checked using small yarns stuck at
the sample surface. Fig. 7c shows the comparison between the
experimental results in warp and weft directions. The behaviour
can be split into two phases: a first one during which the stiffness
initially strong decreases significantly and a second one during
which the stiffness is quite constant. Those curves allow assuming
a strain energy density function defined by parts:
 kinematics of the interlock reinforcement. Two tests have been
 K jI jpcta ifjI j 6 I0
 cta cta cta cta
wcta ðIcta Þ ¼  with 0 < pcta < 2and a ¼ 1; 2
 K 2 jIcta j2 þ K 1 jIcta j þ K 0
The stiffness continuity requirement imposes some relations
between all the parameters so that:
K 0 ¼ ð1  32 pcta þ 12 ðpcta Þ2 ÞK cta ðI0cta Þpcta ;
K 1 ¼ K cta pcta ð2  pcta ÞðI0cta Þpcta 1
K 2 ¼ 12 K cta pcta ðpcta  1ÞðI0cta Þpcta 2
ð23Þ The device is shown in Fig. 8a. When the punch stroke reached
50 mm, the binder restricts the fabric movement. The friction
behaviour is assumed to be described by a constant Coulomb
coefficient of 0.2. Experimental (shown in Fig. 8b) and numerical
external shapes are in good agreement. The obtained results show
the capability of the proposed model to capture the kinematics of
layer to layer angle interlock reinforcement during forming (see
Fig. 8c and d). The shear angles on top and bottom faces of the pre-
form differ significantly. That is well depicted by the 3D FE analysis
based on the hyperelastic model. In addition the simulations give
transverse compaction strains. These quantities are not provided
when the simulation of the forming is based on standard shell
finite elements. The compaction strains are important in the zone
of the blank holder (Fig. 8d).
5.2. Bending of a thick interlock reinforcements
Bending is a deformation mode which involves transverse shear
and, locally, transverse compression. In this test shown Fig. 9a and
d, the specimen is mainly subjected to transverse shear strains.
This test highlights the specificities of the through the thickness
realised: a three point 0°/90° bending test, i.e. warp and weft direc-
tions are aligned with the sample edges; a three point ±45° bend-
ing test, i.e. the yarn directions form a 45° angle with the sample
ð24Þ
edges. Fig. 9b and e shows the comparisons between numerical
and experimental results in terms of deformed shape. For both
tests, the sample is a parallelepiped of 200  30  15 mm. The dis-
tance between fixed points is 116 mm. A 60 mm displacement is
imposed to the mobile point.
ð25Þ In the first hand, Fig. 9a shows that, in the case of the 0°/90°
specimen, the cross sections remain nearly vertical and the inter-
lock beam is very far from the Euler–Bernoulli assumption. The
 A. Charmetant et al. / Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360 1357

Fig. 7. Transverse shear test device (a and b) and identification curves respectively in the warp and weft directions (c).

Table 1
Strain invariants associated to thick interlock deformation modes and identified parameters.

Deformation mode Strain invariant Identified coefficients

pffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffi
Stretch in warp and weft directions Ielong1 ¼ ln I41 and Ielong2 ¼ lnð I42 Þ I0elong ¼ 0:0145
K 0elong ¼ 37:85 MPa
K elong ¼ 816:33 MPa

Compression Icomp ¼ 12 ln I3 K 0comp ¼ 7:57  103 MPa
I41 I42
p = 2.85
I0comp ¼ 1:12
In-plane shear Icp ¼ pIffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
421 K0 = 0.3 MPa
I41 I42

I0cp ¼ 4:2  103

K 1 ¼ 3:0  103 MPa
Transverse shear in the warp and weft directions Ict1 ¼ pIffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
413
and Ict2 ¼ pIffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
423
K ct1 ¼ 2:67  103 MPa K ct2 ¼ 3:65  103 MPa
I41 I43 I42 I43
I0ct1 ¼ 5:96  102 ; I0ct2 ¼ 10:74  102
pct1 ¼ 1:375 pct2 ¼ 1:5536

simulation correctly depicts this vertical orientation of the cross
sections (Fig. 9b).
In the other hand, for a ±45° bending test, experimental results
show a quasi Euler–Bernoulli behaviour. The cross sections remain
perpendicular to the mid surface of the specimen. The numerical
simulations are in fairly good agreement (Fig. 9e).
The clearly different orientations of the cross sections for the
specimen at 0°/90° and at ±45° are due to the very large stiffness
of the yarns in tension. For a specimen initially oriented at 0°/
90°, the yarns have the same direction as the specimen and are al-
most inextensible. That leads to vertical cross section. For a speci-
men initially oriented at ±45°, in-plane shear in the initially
horizontal plane lead to cross sections perpendicular to the mid
plane of the specimen. The proposed hyperelastic law describes
fairly well this specific kinematics.
Nevertheless, the shape of the numerical samples presents
some discrepancies.
The first point concerns the non loaded parts of the specimens
(external to the supports). These parts are rather aligned with
the central part of the specimen in the experiments. This is not
the case in simulations. In particular the external parts remain
horizontal in the numerical analysis of the 0°/90° specimen. More-
over the radius at the centre of the specimen is somewhat too
small. It is clearer on the lower face of the specimen.
1358 A. Charmetant et al. / Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360

Fig. 8. Geometrical characteristics of deep drawing with hemispherical punch (a); preform shape after forming (b) In-plane shear angles (c) and compression ratio (d) for
50 mm punch stroke.

Fig. 9. Comparison between experiment and simulation for 3 point bending tests: experiment for 0/90° (a) and ±45° (d) fibre orientation; simulation with the proposed
model for 0/90° (b) and ±45° (e) fibre orientation; simulation with added beams for 0/90°(c) and ±45° (f) fibre orientation.
 A. Charmetant et al. / Composites Science and Technology 72 (2012) 1352–1360
5.3. Local bending stiffness – Possible improvements
The numerical simulations of thick interlock deformations pre-
sented in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 are in fairly good agreement with the
experiments. In particular the different orientations of the cross
sections after deformations that change with the yarn orientations
are depicted by the simulations. Nevertheless in the case of speci-
men with yarns at 0°/90°, the position of the unloaded parts of the
beam (external to the supports) is not properly depicted. They re-
main horizontal when they are aligned with the central part of the
specimen in the experiment. In addition, the radii of curvature in
the central part of the beam are smaller in the simulation than in
the experiment with a larger amplitude in the ±45° case. These
two points can be related to fibre bending stiffness. Each fibre
has a local bending stiffness that resists to a curvature and contrib-
utes to aligning the parts of the beam external to the supports and
to increasing the central radius of curvature. The hyperelastic mod-
el presented in the previous sections falls within the framework of
classical continuum mechanics (respecting Cauchy’s axioms).
There is no local microstructure that permits to introduce volume
couples. For this, generalised continuum models are necessary
[33]. A simple way to take the fibre stiffness into account is to
superimpose a set of finite element beams in the warp and weft
directions on the continuous hyperelastic material. The bending
stiffness of these beams enables to model those fibres within the
interlock reinforcement. The deformed shapes obtained in this
way in the three point bending test of thick interlocks are in better
agreement with the experiment (Fig 9c and f). In particular the
external parts of the beam with yarns at 0°/90° are in continuity
with the internal one and the central radius of curvature are in
agreement with the experiment. The goal of this approach is to
show that the microstructure and in particular the bending stiff-
ness of the fibres plays a role in the mechanical behaviour of thick
interlocks. The classical continuum mechanics (Cauchy) does not
comprise this microstructure and there is no applied couple in vol-
ume [33]. For an advanced mechanical behaviour model of thick
interlock reinforcement, one possible way of improvement could
be to use mechanics of generalised continua (Cosserat continua
or second-gradient theory [34,35]). Large deformation of thick
interlocks is an interesting field of application of these approaches.
Nevertheless they are complex in theory and above all the neces-
sary corresponding experiments are difficult to implement.
Concerning the simulations of interlock preform forming, the
hyperelastic model presented in the present paper is probably a
good compromise between simplicity and accuracy.
6. Conclusion
In the present paper, a hyperelastic anisotropic constitutive
equation has been proposed to model the large deformations of
layer to layer angle interlock reinforcements. Six deformation
modes have been identified and related to six strain invariants
based on the structural tensors representative of an initially ortho-
tropic material. A strain energy density function, built by the addi-
tion on six strain energy functions is defined and identified from
simple mechanical tests.
The proposed constitutive law has shown its ability to depict the
mechanical behaviour of thick interlock reinforcements during
forming. These interlock materials have shown a specific behaviour
of the cross sections in bending. The orientations of these cross
sections in the deformed beam depend on the initial directions of
warp and weft yarns. This is correctly depicted by the proposed
hyperelastic model. Nevertheless a complete description of the
thick interlock behaviour in bending needs to step outside the
framework of standard continuum mechanics of Cauchy. It has been
shown that taking local bending stiffness into account improves the
1359
deformed shape. Some works are now in progress to develop con-
tinuum approaches within generalised continuum mechanics.
Acknowledgement
The support of SNECMA company (Groupe SAFRAN) is grate-
fully acknowledged.
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