Composites Science and Technology 45 (1992) 135-152

Prediction of on-axes elastic properties of

plain weave fabric composites
N. K. Naik & V. K. Ganesh
Aerospace Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Bombay 400 076, India
(Received 14 February 1991; revised version received 4 September 1991; accepted 2 October 1991)

Two fabric composite models are presented for the on-axes elastic analysis of
two-dimensional orthogonal plain weave fabric lamina. These are twodimensional models taking into account the actual strand cross-section
geometry, possible gap between two adjacent strands and undulation and
continuity of strands along both warp and fill directions. The shape functions
considered to define the geometry of the woven fabric lamina compare well
with the photomicrographs of actual woven fabric lamina cross-sections. There
is a good correlation between the predicted results and the experimental
values. Certain modifications are suggested to the simple models available in
the literature so that these models can also be used to predict the elastic
properties of woven fabric laminae under specific conditions. Some design
studies have been carried out for graphite/epoxy woven fabric laminae. Effects
of woven fabric geometrical parameters on the elastic properties of the
laminae have been investigated.

Keywords: woven fabric lamina, prediction, two-dimensional, plain weave,

elastic constants

Gap between the adjacent

strands
Maximum strand thickness
h
Thickness
of matrix at
hm
x=0, y=0
Thickness of matrix and
hx,(x, y),
strands in X - Z plane at a
i=1,2,3,4
point as defined by coordinates x and y (Fig. 6)
hyi(y), i = 1, 2, 3, 4 Thickness of matrix and
strands in Y - Z plane at
x = 0 (Fig. 5)
Total thickness of WF
H
lamina
Transverse
bulk modulus
k
Reduced stiffness of
Qij, i , j = 1, 2, 6
lamina
Local reduced and aver%,
aged compliance constants
i,j=1,2,6
Volume
V
Fibre volume fraction
Matrix volume fraction
Vm
Cartesian co-ordinates
x, y, z

NOTATION
Strand width
Extensional, coupling and
bending compliance
constants
Parameters as defined in
ax,, Zx,
Fig. 6
Parameters as defined in
ay,, z r`
Fig. 5
Extensional, coupling and
Ao, B j, Dij
bending stiffness constants
i , j = l , 2, 6
EL, ET, ~/LT, GET, Grr UD composite elastic properties along the fibre and
transverse fibre directions
eL(o), eT(o), vLT(o), Local reduced elastic constants for undulation angle
CLT(O), C (O)
0
Elastic constants of unit
Ex,
vxy,
cell/WF lamina

a~*, b~*,d~*
i,j=1,2,6

Composites Science and Technology 0266-3538/92/$05.00

1992 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd.
135

136

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh

ZX i(x, y),

zyi(y),

i = 1, 2

i = 1, 2

O(x), O(y)
O

Subscripts
f
L
T
W

Shape functions of strand

undulation in X - Z plane
(Fig. 6)
Shape functions of strand
undulation in Y - Z plane
(Fig. 5)
Local off-axis angle of the
undulated strand
Maximum off-axis angle of
the undulated strand

Quantities in fill direction

Quantities in fibre
direction
Quantities in transverse
fibre direction
Quantities in warp
direction

Superscripts
Quantities of element
Quantities of fibre
Quantities of matrix
WF composite overall
O
properties
pm
Quantities of pure matrix
s
Quantities of strand
sl
Quantities of slice
*
Quantities of UD crossply
laminate
Overbars indicate average values/quantities transformed to global direction
el
f
m

Abbreviations
CCA
CLT
EAM
MKM
MMPM
PS
SAM
SP
UD
WF
1-D
2-D
3-D

Composite cylinder assemblage (model)

Classical laminate theory
Element array model
Modified Kabelka's model
Modified mosaic parallel
model
Parallel-series (model)
Slice array model
Series-parallel (model)
Unidirectional
Woven fabric
One-dimensional
Two-dimensional
Three-dimensional

1 INTRODUCTION

The increasing use of composite materials has

revolutionised the aerospace industry over the
past two decades. The ability to vary the
properties and performance of composite materials has been in large measure responsible for
the great impact that these materials have had.
Traditionally, advanced composite structures
have been fabricated from tape prepregs which
were systematically stacked to form a laminate.
This type of construction tends to give optimal
in-plane stiffness and strength. Since the primary
loads usually are in-plane, the use of such
composites appeared logical. However, there are
many situations where neither primary nor
secondary loads are in-plane. In such situations
tape prepreg laminates may not be the most
appropriate.
The future for composites is undergoing a
transition. The aerospace performance criteria
consisting of high specific stiffness and high
specific strength are being supplemented with
high toughness and efficient manufacturability.
With this, textile structural composites in general
and woven fabric (WF) composites in particular
are finding increasing use in primary as well as
secondary structural applications along with
unidirectional (UD) tape composites. Making use
of the unique combination of light weight,
flexibility, strength and toughness, textile structures like wovens, knits, braids and nonwovens
have now been recognised as attractive reinforcements for structural applications.
Woven fabric is formed by interlacing two
mutually perpendicular sets of yarns. The
lengthwise threads are called warp and the
crosswise threads fill or weft. The interlacing
pattern of the warp and fill is known as the
weave. Two-dimensional (2-D) fundamental
weaves are plain, twill and satin. The micromechanical behaviour of woven fabric laminates
depends on the fabric properties, which in turn
depend on the fabric structure. The parameters
involved in determining the fabric structure are
weave, fabric count, fineness of yarn, fibre
characteristics, yarn structure, degree of undulation, etc. The architecture of a WF lamina is
complex and therefore the parameters controlling
the mechanical and thermal properties of WF
composites are too numerous. This makes it
impractical to characterise the WF composites
through tests alone, necessitating analytical

Prediction of on-axes elastic properties o f plain weave fabric composites

models which can predict the mechanical and

thermal properties of the WF composites.
A variety of analytical models (Raju et al. ~)
has been proposed for the prediction of the
thermo-elastic properties of WF laminae. The
models are based on the classical laminate theory
(CLT) 2-4 or finite element analysis, s-7 Halphin et
al. 2 extended the laminate analogy developed to
predict the elastic stiffness of a randomlyoriented, short-fibre composite to 2-D and 3-D
woven fabric composites. The weave geometry
considered here represents the fabric in 1-D only
and also the circular geometry of the strand
cross-section considered here is not realistic.
Chou & Ishikawa 3 have presented three models
to predict the elastic properties of WF lamina.
These are the mosaic model,S the fibre
undulation model s and the combination of the
above two, the bridging model. 9 The mosaic
model idealises the WF lamina as an
assemblage of asymmetric crossply laminates.
Depending on whether the pieces of the crossply
laminate are in parallel or in series, i.e. isostrain
or isostress condition, respectively, the bounds of
the stiffness as predicted by the mosaic model can
be evaluated. This model does not consider the
strand continuity and stress disturbance at the
interface of the assemblage. The fibre undulation
model considers the strand continuity and
undulation, but it is a 1-D model as it considers
the undulation of the strand in the loading
direction only. The combination of mosaic and
fibre undulation models, called the bridging
model, was proposed to analyse satin weave
fabrics. The model considers the bridging effect
present in the satin weave fabric due to the
presence of non-interlacing regions. The bridging
model considers the fibre continuity and is a 2-D
model for satin weave, but reduces to fibre
undulation model in the case of plain weave. This
model considers the undulation in the loading
direction, as in the case of the fibre undulation
model, but the strand undulation in the
transverse direction and its actual cross-sectional
geometry are not considered. These models were
later extended to evaluate the thermal properties
and to analyse hybrid WF laminae. ~-~2 In
general, the analytical predictions did not
correlate well with the experimental results ~3 for
plain weave fabric composites.
Kabelka 4 suggested a method of evaluating the
elastic and thermal properties of a plain weave
fabric lamina. This is a 2-D model taking into

137

consideration the undulation in both warp and fill

directions, but the actual strand cross-sectional
geometry was not considered. The properties of
the undulated warp and fill strands were
evaluated under the constant stress condition in
the strand and then the classical laminate theory
was used to predict the overall properties.
A 3-D finite element analysis was presented by
Raju et al. ~ to predict the thermal expansion
coefficients of the WF lamina. Here, again the
WF lamina was idealised as an assemblage of
asymmetric crossply laminates. Whitcomb 6 also
used the 3-D finite element analysis to analyse
WF lamina. Here, the undulation and continuity
of the strands were considered in order to study
the effect of various weave parameters on the
mechanical properties of the WF lamina. The
undulation shapes at the interlacing considered in
the above studies were very approximate and
may not present an accurate behaviour of a plain
weave fabric lamina.
Zhang & Harding 7 and Dow & Ramnath 14
presented fabric models based on energy
principles. Zhang & Harding 7 used the strain
energy equivalence principle to predict the elastic
properties of a plain weave lamina. The finite
element method was used to evaluate the strain
energies of the constituent phases for the
analysis. In these studies (Refs 7 and 14), the
undulation of the strand was considered in the
loading direction only and therefore all the
inherent discrepancies present in 1-D models
would also be present.

1.1 The choice of a 2-D model

A single layer WF composite is designated as WF

lamina. The woven fabric can be in the form of
an open weave or a close weave. In the case of
the open weave, there may be gaps between two
adjacent strands, whereas close weave fabrics are
tightly woven without any gap between two
adjacent strands. There can also be certain
fabrics made of twisted strands which would
invariably have a certain amount of gap even if
they are tightly woven. It is obvious that the
presence of a gap between the adjacent strands
would affect the stiffness of the WF lamina and
hence should be accounted for while evaluating
the thermo-mechanical properties.
The experimentally determined fibre volume
fraction, Vf, of the WF lamina is the overall Vf,

138

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh
z

ho

,:~::~

I
ho
SECTION

SECTION S~- S~

S o- S O

h 0 = hm/2

,z

., ?z

~..

.',

SECTION S z - S z

t1 1

SECTION S 3 - S 1

-t-o~12

i
SECTION S 4 - S~
h4=(hm+ hf) /2

WARF

lllfl .---_54
5a
Ii
---5Z

" " " "

j~_~11"
S0 E

IIIJlIF

PLAN

"---51

,----~o x

Fig. 1. Plain weave fabric lamina structure--cross-sections at different intervals.

V~', but for the analysis of the WF lamina the
strand Vf, V~, forms the input. It is therefore
necessary to evaluate the strand Vf from the
overall Vf determined experimentally. The
available methodologies do not take into account
the gap between the adjacent strands, the actual
cross-sectional geometry of the strand, and
strand undulation transverse to the loading
direction. Mathematically, the series model 3
should give the lower bound of stiffness due to
the assumption of the isostress condition and
thereby higher complementary energy. But
owing to the gross simplification of not
considering the above mentioned parameters, the
1-D series model predicts higher stiffness than
the expected lower bound. Also, for the
evaluation of the strand Vf from the overall Vf,
the information about the gap and strand
undulation in both warp and fill directions is
necessary.

Figure 1 presents the cross-sections of a plain

weave fabric lamina at different sections from the
midpoint of the fill strand (So-S0) to the midpoint

Fig. 2. Optical micrograph---cross-sectionalview of a plain

weave fabric laminate.

Prediction of on-axes elastic properties of plain weave fabric composites

Fig. 3. Plain weave fabric structure.

of the gap ($4-$4). Figure 2 is an optical

micrograph showing the typical cross-sections of
the plain weave fabric lamina at different
sections. A typical plain weave fabric structure is
shown in Fig. 3. It is seen that the thickness of
the fill strand decreases gradually from the
midpoint of the strand to zero in the gap region.
This reduction due to the strand cross-sectional
geometry would reduce the overall stiffness of
the WF lamina. Therefore, the geometry of the
strand cross-section should be considered while
evaluating the stiffness and this requires a 2-D
model. The available 1-D models predict higher
stiffness as the maximum strand thickness is
considered in these models.

2 FABRIC COMPOSITE MODELS

The plain weave fabric composite models
presented here are 2-D in the sense that they
consider the undulation and continuity of the
strand in both the warp and fill directions. The
models also account, for the presence of the gap
between adjacent strands and different material
and geometrical properties of the warp and fill
strands.

2.1 Refined models

Two refined models are presented in this section.
In the first model, the unit cell is discretised into
slices along the loading direction. The individual
slices are analysed separately and the unit cell
elastic properties are evaluated by assembling the
slices under the isostrain condition. Such a model

139

is called a slice array model, abbreviated SAM.

In the second model, the unit cell is discretised
into slices either along or across the loading
direction. The slices are further subdivided into
elements. The individual elements are analysed
separately. The elements are then assembled in
parallel or series to obtain the slice elastic
constants. Further, the slices are assembled
either in series or parallel to obtain the elastic
constants of the unit cell. This scheme of
discretising the unit cell into slices and further
into elements is called an element array model,
abbreviated EAM.

2. 1.1 Slice array model (SAM)

In the analysis, the strand is taken to be
transversely isotropic and its elastic properties
are evaluated from the transversely isotropic
fibre and matrix properties at strand Vf. It should
be noted that owing to the presence of pure
matrix pockets in the WF lamina, the strand Vf
would be much higher than the composite overall
Vf. The strand properties are evaluated using the
composite cylinder assemblage (CCA) model
(Refs 15 and 16) which is briefly presented in the
Appendix. The details of evaluation of strand Vf
from composite overall Vf is discussed later.
The representative unit cell of a WF lamina is
taken as shown in Fig. 4(a). By virtue of the
symmetry of the interlacing region in plain weave
fabric, only one quarter of the interlacing region
is analysed. The analysis of the unit cell is then
performed by dividing the unit cell into a number
of slices as shown in Fig. 4(b). These slices are
then idealised in the form of a four-layered
laminate i.e. an asymmetric crossply sandwiched
between two pure matrix layers as shown in Fig.
4(c). The effective properties of the individual
layer considering the presence of undulation are
used to evaluate the elastic constants of the
idealised laminate. This, in turn, is used to
evaluate the elastic constants of the unit cell/WF
lamina.
In order to define the undulation and geometry
of the strand cross-section the following shape
functions are used. The below mentioned
expressions are with reference to Figs 5 and 6.
In the Y - Z plane, i.e. along the warp direction
(Fig. 5)

hf
:~y
zy,(y) = - ~- cos - ayt

(1)

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh

140

kZ
hm/2
.

jJ''

"

hZ f

_ _ _ ~ ~ ( y )

..............

i
; - "

(a)

hw

WARP

hY2 [Y)

UNIT CELL
hf

L_

__

$
hm/2
- - o f f 2 - -

Fig.

5. Plain

weave

-~ gfl2

fabric lamina
direction.

cross-section:

warp

and
hyl(y) - hf
~ + hm

zy2(y)

hy2(y) = hw
(b)

ACTUAL SLICES

hy3(y) = zy2(y) - zy~(y)

y = O--~afl2
y = ae/2----~ (af + g,)12

=0
hy4(y) = hf
~ + hm

zy~(y)
(3)

In the X - Z plane, i.e. along the fill direction

(Fig. 6)
hw
:rx
hm
zxl(x, y) = -~- cos - - - hy~(y) + - (4)
ax,
2
hw
~rx
hm
zx2(x, y) = - -~- cos (aw + gw) h y j y ) + ~
(5)

FACTORED h w

(c) IOEALISEDSLICES
Fig.

4. Plain

weave

fabric lamina
idealisation.

unit

zy2(y)

hf
:ry
= ~ c o s ia r + gf)

cell

and

its

and
(2)
I

where

hx3 (x,y)

FILL

hf

Jtaf
ay t =

2 [ ~ - cos-,(2zY'~ ]
\hf/J
h,
( ~ae ~
zy, = + ~- cos \2(af + &) /

J
J
i

hm/2
Fig.

~ .

6. Plain

axt/2---

aw/2

weave

fabric lamina
direction.

cross-section:

fill

141

Prediction of on-axes elastic properties of plain weave fabric composites

where

$'t'aw
axt =

_~[2z~;~
t~
\hw/
h~
[
n:a.
- - ~ COS~, - - ~
2
2(a. + g . ) //
2 cos

Zx, =

0.09rnrn--=~

O-&8mm

Fig. 8. Actual geometry of the plain weave fabric lamina

cross-section: simulated.

and

hXl(X, y) = hw + h.,_ _ zxl(x, y)

2
hxz(x, y ) = zx,(x, y ) - zx2(x, y)
x = 0---~awl2
= 0 x = aw/2--->(aw + gw)/2

(6)

hx3(x, y) = hy3(y)
hx4(x, y) = zxz(x, y) - hx3(x, y)
+ (hw + h,,)/2 + hf
The validity of the above expressions can be
ascertained by comparing the optical micrograph
of the actual WF lamina cross-section along the
fill direction (Fig. 7) and the simulated plot
making use of the same strand parameters (Fig.

8).
It can be seen in the above expressions that the
parameter z~, would reduce to zero and ax, to aw
when the gap between the adjacent warp strands
is zero ( X - Z plane). Similarly, in the Y - Z plane,
zy, would reduce to zero and ay, to a~. The idea of
introducing these parameters in the shape
functions is to simulate the gap between the

Fig. 7. Actual g e o m e t r y of the plain w e a v e fabric lamina

cross-section: scanning electron micrograph.

strands mathematically, which was otherwise not

possible if the same expression is used for zx~ and
zx2 and similarly for zy~ and zyz. These
parameters only steepen the outer contour of the
strand cross-section without disturbing the
overall undulation of the strand. The slope of the
fill strand is so maintained that at a given point in
all the sections across the loading direction the
slope of the strand is the same, i.e. the local off-axis
angle of the fill strand, Of, is not a function of y.
Similarly, the local off-axis angle of the warp
strand, Ow, is not a function of x. The steepening
of the outer contour and maintaining the same
off-axis angle in all the planes across the loading
direction at a given point make the cross-section
of the WF lamina unit cell unsymmetrical about
its midplane. This can be seen in Fig. 1 which
presents the cross-sections of two adjacent unit
cells. Only the cross-sections at the midpoint of
the strand (S0-S0) and the gap ($4-$4) are
symmetric about their midplanes. Here, asymmetry or symmetry indicates the presence or
absence of averaged coupling stiffness terms of
that cross-section, respectively. In all the other
sections it is seen that the thickness of the top
pure matrix layer is less than that of the bottom
pure matrix layer. With this, h~>h~ and h~'>h~
and ha'> h~. This is the behaviour in the region
AB (Fig. 1), whereas the behaviour is assumed to
be the reverse in the region BC. In other words,
the thickness of the pure matrix layer would be
more at the top than at the bottom in the region
BC. Mathematically, it means that the coupling
effect of region AB and BC are balancing each
other. This exercise is done to see that the
averaged coupling terms are zero for the unit
A C D E and this is true as the plain weave fabric
composites do not twist globally on extension.
This apparent twisting of the fabric on extension
was seen because of the shape function
considered. The other way of eliminating the
coupling terms is to pull the entire fabric in such
a way that h ~ - h l in section S~-S1, h 2 - h 2 in
section Sz-S2 and so on.
It

__

tf

142

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh

The volume of the pure matrix region in the

unit cell can be evaluated by calculating the
thicknesses in the pure matrix region for the
shape functions considered and then integrating
to get the volume of the matrix in the pure
matrix region. The thickness ordinates in the
pure matrix region are given by hx,(x, y) and
hx4(x, y) as given in expression (6). Knowing the
overall Vf of the WF lamina the strand Vf can be
calculated.
The strand fibre volume fraction is given by
vw
V~-~- W -

written as (Ref. 17)

1
s,,(8)

EL(S)

(7)

The transversely isotropic strand elastic constants can be evaluated from V~ and the fibre and
matrix properties. It should be noted here that
these properties are the properties of the straight
strand, i.e. the properties of the equivalent UD
lamina.
The elastic constants of the undulated strands
along the global axes are to be determined in
order to evaluate the global elastic constants of
the WF lamina. In the case of warp strands (Fig.
4), it is done by transforming the compliance of
the warp strand for the off-axis angle at the
midpoint of that slice. In the case of fill strands,
the effective mean value of the compliance is
calculated by considering sections of infinitesimal
thicknesses along the fill strand and transforming
the compliance of these infinitesimal sections
along the global direction and then integrating
them in the interval ( 0 - ~ O 0 , Here, O~ is the
off-axis angle at x = (aw+gw)/2 i.e. the maximum off-axis angle.
The local off-axis angle in the fill strand Of(x) is
expressed as
0f(x) = tan -l d [zx2(x, y)]
=tan- / _ --sin
}
\2(aw + gw)
(aw + gw)

(8)

and in the warp strand it is expressed as

d

El.

2VLT]m2n2+ n4

1
&2(o) =

ET(0)

ET

ET(0)
s

(o) = _ _

ET
m2

--

GLT(0)

GET

ET
n2

..[_ _ _

Gvr

where m = cos 8, n = sin 0.

For the fill strand the mean value of the
compliance is expressed as

afo

S~j=~

Sij(O) dO

(11)

In an actual WF lamina O is very small, and

therefore the functions sin 0 and cos 0 can be
substituted by the first term of their Taylor series
in the integration of eqn (11).
Integrating eqn (11), the effective elastic
constants of the fill strand are
EL

1+5Oz

(12)

GET
(~fLT =
(~2( G L T - 1)
1 + 3 \GTr
After evaluating the reduced elastic constants
of the warp strand as explained earlier and of the
fill strand by using eqn (12) in the slice, and also
considering the presence of pure matrix layers,
the extensional stiffness of that slice can be
expressed as
1

Ow(y) = tan-'-d-y [Zy2(y)]

(lO)

S12(0 ) ~-----VTL(0) _ VTL

2 _ m + --V'r'rn2

o
V pm

m4

A~(y) = ~ ~ hXk(X, Y)(Q_.ij)k

(13)

k=l

1[

=tan-/

:rhf

~y

--sin
]
\2(af + g0
(ae--+gf)

(9)

The respective off-axis angle reduces the

effective elastic constants in the global X and Y
directions. The reduced compliance can be

where, hxk(x, y) and (Qij)k are the thicknesses

and mean transformed stiffness of the kth layer
in the nth slice. Here, hxk(x, y) is evaluated at
constant x, for different values of y.
The thickness of the warp strand is maximum

Prediction of on-axes elastic properties of plain weave fabric composites

at x = 0 and zero from x = a , / 2 to x = ( a , +
gw)/2. Therefore the mid thickness of the warp
strand is taken for the extensional stiffness
calculations i.e. the thickness hw is multiplied by
a factor [0.71a,/(a, + gw)]. The balance of the
thickness is assumed to be filled with pure
matrix.
From the extensional stiffness of the slices the
elastic constants of the unit cell are evaluated by
assembling the slices together under the isostrain
condition in all the slices, i.e. the averaged
in-plane extensional stiffness is evaluated. The
averaged in-plane extensional stiffnesses of the
unit cell/WF lamina can be expressed as
2

(a) SERIES-PARALLEL COMBINATION

C'

S'

~(.,+go/2

Aij = (af + gf) Jo

A~!(y)dy

(14)

It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the unit cell is

not symmetric about its midplane and therefore
the coupling stiffness terms are present. But
owing to the nature of interlacing of the strands
in the plain weave fabric the coupling terms in
two adjacent unit cells of the WF lamina would
have opposite signs and therefore are zero for the
WF lamina as a whole. The elastic constants of
the unit cell/WF lamina can then be obtained
from the expressions: TM

Ex=A~,(1

A~2 )

Gxy=A66

143

(15)

A~2

Vyx A22
In the case of balanced plain weave fabrics the
Young's moduli in both fill and warp directions,
i.e. Ex and Ey, are the same. For an unbalanced
plain weave fabric, the Young's modulus in the
warp direction should be calculated by the same
procedure as in the fill direction.

2. 1.2 Element cirray model (EAM)

The limitations of SAM are that this method
approximates the stiffness contribution of the
warp strand and accounts for the gap between
the adjacent warp strands approximately. It
should also be noted that when the maximum
off-axis angle, O, is substantially high such that
the first term of the Taylor series would not be
accurate enough to define the sine and cosine
functions, SAM would fail to give accurate
results.
In E A M these constraints are overcome by

A"

z"
(b) PARALLEL-SERIES COMBINATION
Fig. 9. Plain weave fabric lamina unit ceil discretised into
slices and elements.

subdividing the slices into elements (1, 2, 3) of

infinitesimal thickness (Fig. 9). Then, within
these elements, the elastic constants of the warp
and fill strands are transformed for the local
off-axis angle (Fig. 9) and CLT is used to
evaluate the stiffness of that element. The
average in-plane compliance of the slices are
evaluated under the constant stress condition in
every element of that slice, i.e. the mean integral
value of the element compliance over the length
of the slice along the fill strand are evaluated.
From the compliances of the slices the stiffnesses
of the slices are calculated and then the elastic
constants of .the unit cell are evaluated
considering a constant strain state in all the
slices. This procedure where the elements in the
slices are assembled in series (isostress condition)
and then the slices are considered in parallel
(isostrain condition) is one way of evaluating the
overall stiffness (Fig. 9(a)). Such a scheme is
referred to as a series-parallel (SP) combination.
The other way is to make the slices across the
loading direction as shown in Fig. 9(b). The slices
A', B' and C' are subdivided into elements.
Then the elements in the slices A ' , B' and C' are
assembled with isostrain condition to obtain the
slice stiffness. The slice stiffnesses are inverted to

144

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh

obtain the slice compliances. The slices A', B'

and C' are placed in series along the loading
direction. The unit cell compliance is obtained by
the integrated average of the slice compliances.
The unit cell stiffnesses are obtained by inverting
the unit cell compliances. Thus is the parallelseries (PS) combination.
Here, the expressions used to define the
undulation and the geometry of the strand
cross-section are the same as the ones used in
SAM, i.e. eqns (1)-(6). The strand Vf and the
local off-axis angle in fill and warp directions are
calculated from eqns (7), (8) and (9), respectively. The elastic constants of the warp and fill
strands within the element are transformed using
eqn (10). Then the stiffnesses of the elements are
calculated from CLT. The elastic constants of the
unit cell/WF lamina are then evaluated as
described earlier, i.e. by either a series-parallel
or parallel-series combination.
In the SP combination (Fig. 9(a)), the average
of the slice coupling compliance, (b*~
, a, ~, in the
n t h slice would be nullified by a similar slice in
the adjacent unit cell. But, the element coupling
stiffness, (Bij) e~, and bending stiffness, (D~j)e~,
would increase the value of the element
extensional compliance, taxi)
" *'~ , on inversion. This
would amount to local softening of the element
and hence a reduction in the stiffness of the slice
and finally the WF lamina. But in a PS
combination (Fig. 9(b)), the average of the slice
coupling stiffness in the nth slice, (B~j)S~, would be
nullified by a similar slice in the adjacent unit
cell. In a PS combination, since the slice coupling
stiffnesses are zero, the slice extensional compliances,"~aij)
*'~ , are not affected by the coupling
and bending stiffness terms on inversion. A PS
combination would therefore predict a higher
value of stiffness compared to a SP combination.
In a WF lamina, locally induced moment
resultants would be present as a result of the
application of the in-plane stress resultants. For a
plain weave fabric lamina, owing to the nature of
interlacing the induced moment would be such
that it constrains the local bending deformation.
This would amount to setting the element
curvature terms to zero. When this is done, both
SP and PS combinations would give the same
results.
In SAM the mean integral value was calculated
by using an exact integration. But in E A M the
integration becomes complex and the integral
should therefore be evaluated numerically.

3 MODIFIED SIMPLE MODELS

The simple models available in the literature are
not accurate for the prediction of the elastic
constants of 2-D plain weave fabric laminae.
Here, modifications are suggested to the existing
simple models, 3'4 which make the results of these
models comparable with the refined model
predictions.

3.1 Modified mosaic parallel model (MMPM)

In the 1-D parallel model, 3 the fabric is idealised
as an assemblage of units of antisymmetric
crossply laminates placed in parallel across the
loading direction. Here, the continuity and
undulation of the strands are not considered. A
constant midplane strain is assumed in order to
evaluate the stiffness of the WF lamina. From
this assumption the equations for the in-plane
stiffness for a plain weave fabric lamina reduce to
Aij = A~

(16)

In the above model the crossply stiffnesses are

calculated from the elastic properties of the UD
lamina at the strand Vt. Therefore the stiffnesses
predicted by the mosaic parallel model are much
higher than the experimental results. If the
overall Vf of the WF lamina experimentally
determined is used to evaluate the elastic
properties of the UD lamina and then the mosaic
parallel model is used to predict the WF lamina
stiffness properties, the results are in good
agreement with the predictions of the refined
models as well as the experimental results.

3.2 Modified Kabeika's model (MKM)

In this model (Ref. 4), the WF lamina is idealised
as a three-layered laminate consisting of two
undulated laminae in the crossply configuration
(Fig. 10) and one pure matrix layer. Here,
the UD elastic properties of the undulated
laminae in the crossply configuration are reduced
for undulation and then CLT is used to evaluate
the elastic properties of the WF lamina.
The local off-axis angle of the fill and warp
strands are expressed a s : 4
d [hw

z~x~

\2

aw/

0f(x) = tan -1 ~ t - - cos - - t

Ow(y) = t a n - l - v uy

cos

(17)
(18)

Prediction of on-axes elastic properties of plain weave fabric composites

J

stiffness of the WF lamina is evaluated using

CLT.
In this method, the thicknesses of the warp and
fill laminae are taken as the thicknesses of the
respective strands. But, in an actual case,
normally the strands are elliptically shaped with
maximum thickness at the mid section. This
model would therefore give a higher stiffness
because the maximum strand thickness is
considered for calculations. Secondly, the presence of a gap is not accounted for.
The presence of a gap can be approximately
taken into account by replacing the strand width
by strand width plus the gap between the
corresponding adjacent strands in eqns (17)(19).
In order to account for the elliptical shape of
the strand, the strand thickness is factored to its
mid value while calculating the in-plane stiffness.
The remaining thickness is taken as pure matrix
layer. The ordinate of the strans thickness
follows the sine function, therefore the mid
thickness of the warp and fill strand would be

~X

IZ

h.,,,

,-",,,,(y)

e~

,y
Fig. 10. Plain weave fabric lamina--representation of
interlacing.
The ratios hw/aw and hf/ae can be considered to
be very small for the actual strand configurations.
Hence the maximum off-axis angles in the fill and
warp directions are
Of =
Ow

hf = 0.707hf
/~w= 0-707hw

(21)

If the gap is present, the average thickness can be

approximated as
ae
/~f = 0"707h'((af + gf))

(22)

:rhw

2aw
:thf
~-2ae

(19)

S0(t~) d 0

hw= 0"707hw((aw+wgw))
4 EXPERIMENTAL WORK

The reduced elastic properties of the equivalent warp and fill laminae are evaluated by
finding the mean integral value of the local
compliance of the respective lamina. This is done
by transforming the compliance for the local
off-axis angle and then integrating the transformed compliance.
The average compliance may be expressed as
S0= ~

145

(20)

The above expression can be used for both

warp and fill strands by inserting the respective
strand geometrical and elastic parameters.
Inverting the compliance, the effective elastic
properties can be found. Knowing the effective
elastic properties of the equivalent laminae, the

The experimental programme was designed to

determine the elastic moduli of the WF lamina
along the warp and fill directions. The experiments were carried out on E-glass/epoxy and
carbon/epoxy laminae. The thickness of the
E-glass fabric was 0.2 mm, and the warp and fill
thread counts were 15 per cm, while the
thickness of the carbon fabric was 0.16 mm and
its warp and fill thread counts were 8-8 per cm. It
may be noted that even though the number of
counts are the same along the warp and fill
directions, the fabrics are not balanced because
of different gaps along the warp and fill directions
and hence a different degree of undulation. The
epoxy resin LY556 with hardener HY951
supplied by Cibatul, India, was used and the

146

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh

laminae were prepared at room temperature in a

specially designed matched die mould. The
overall fibre volume fractions of the laminae
were determined as described in the ASTM
specification D 3171.
Static tensile test specimens were prepared
according to ASTM specification D 3039. The
laminae thicknesses of the E-glass/epoxy and
carbon/epoxy composites were less than the
minimum required by ASTM D3039. Since no
other standards are available for such testing, the
same standard was used for the specimens made
from WF laminae. The tests were performed on a
Lloyd M50K machine. The specimens were
tested at room temperature (27C) at a crosshead
speed of 1 mm/min. A total of 40 specimens was
tested. The scatter range for carbon/epoxy for Ey
was 56-61 GPa and for Ex it was 47-50 GPa. For
E-glass/epoxy, the scatter range was 17-21 GPa.
The mean values of the test results are presented
in the next section.
The geometrical parameters of the fabric were
determined by means of an optical microscope at
a magnification of 20.

5 RESULTS A N D DISCUSSION
Two fabric composite models have been presented for the on-axes elastic analysis of 2-D
orthogonal plain weave fabric laminae. The
models consider the actual strand cross-sectional
geometry and the presence of a gap between the
adjacent strands. An analytical technique to
evaluate VI from V~' determined experimentally
is also presented. The shape functions considered
are compared with a scanning electron micrograph. The shape functions agree well with the
actual geometry of the WF lamina.
Some approximations are incorporated in
SAM in order to reduce the computational
complexity without compromising on the final
results for actual WF lamina configurations.
These approximations would predict slightly
higher stiffness compared to EAM. In E A M two
combinations of assembling the element stiffness
are presented. In the SP combination, the local
bending deformations can be considered or they
can be assumed to be constrained by locally
induced moments. The assumption that the local
bending deformations are constrained is realistic
considering the nature of interlacing of the plain
weave fabric composites.

Table 1. Elastic properties of fibre and matrix

Material

Fibre
Carbon t9
E-glass~
Graphite 19
Matrix
epoxy~

(GPa)

(OPa)

(GPa)

(GPa)

230-0
72.0
388.0

40-0
72.0
7.2

24-0
27-7
6.8

14-3
27.7
2-4

0-26
0-30
0-23

3.5

3.5

1.3

1.3

0-35

Isotropic.

In order to examine the micromechanical

approaches for the prediction of the elastic
constants of a WF lamina, three material systems
with different weave geometries were considered.
The elastic properties of the fibres and matrix are
given in Table 1. Assumed geometry within the
practical range was taken for the graphite/epoxy
material system in order to study the sensitivity
of the fabric geometry on the elastic properties of
the WF lamina. The fabric geometrical parameters of carbon/epoxy and E-glass/epoxy WF
laminae are the actual dimensions measured with
an optical microscope (Table 2). These two
material systems were considered to compare the
results of the proposed models with the
experimental results. Table 3 presents the
measured V~' and the corresponding calculated
V~. In the case of the graphite/epoxy WF lamina,
V~' was calculated from a V~ of 0.8. The
maximum V~ was assumed to be 0.8 to ensure
that the fibres do not become contiguous. In the
above calculations the V~ values of the warp and
fill strands were assumed to be the same and this
assumption is valid as the diameter of the fibres
in the warp and fill strands are the same and the
processing conditions are the same.
It is seen from Table 3, that V~' is almost half
of V~. This is possible in the case of a plain
weave fabric lamina because of the number and
size of pure resin pockets present. It may not be
possible to achieve a V~' of about 0.5 and above
in the case of plain weave fabric laminae. With
this the maximum V~ of 0-7-0.8 would have been
attained.
Table 4 presents the elastic properties of the
UD lamina at VI and V~' calculated from the
composite cylinder assemblage (CCA) model. 15,16
With these U D lamina properties and different
models described in the preceding sections and
Ref. 4, the elastic properties of the WF laminae
considered were predicted. In the case of the

147

Prediction of on-axes elastic properties of plain weave fabric composites

Table 2. Plain weave fabric lamina strand and weave geometrical parameters
Material

Fill strand

Carbon/epoxy
E-Glass/epoxy
Graphite/epoxy

W a r p strand

af
(mm)

hf
(mm)

gf
(mm)

aw
(mm)

hw
(mm)

gw
(mm)

0.96
0-62
2.00

0.08
0-10
0-50

0-18
0-05
0,50

1.10
0.62
2-00

0-08
0.10
0.50

0.04
0.05
0.50

H
(mm)

V~

0.16
0-20
1-00

0.44 a
0.42 a
0.41 b

a Determined experimentally.
b Calculated from strand Vf of 0.80.

Table 3. Overall Vf and the corresponding strand Vf

Material

Overall Vf (Vf)

Carbon/epoxy
E-Glass/epoxy
Graphite/epoxy

Table 4. Elastic properties of UD lamina using CCA model

Strand Vf (V~)

0-44
0.42
0-41

Material

0.78
0-70
0.80

EL

ET

GLT

Vf

(GVa)

(GPa)

Gaa(GPa)

VLT

(GPa)

7-55
3.00
5.80
2.85
4-40
2-27

6.70
3.00
6.60
3.10
2,10
1,70

0.28
0.40
0.31
0.39
0.25
0-30

0.78
0-44
0.70
0.42
0.80
0.41

Carbon/epoxy

182.50 18-50
105.40
8.60
E-Glass/epoxy
5 1 . 5 0 17-50
32.25
8.55
Graphite/epoxy 311.00
6.30
161.00
5.00

E-glass/epoxy WF lamina, the strand appeared,

when seen through an optical microscope, to
have a slight twist. Ideally, the UD lamina
properties evaluated using the CCA model
should be multiplied by the fibre-to-strand
property translation efficiency factor and then
these properties should be used for further

calculations. But, in this case, as the angle of

twist was small the translation efficiency factor
was taken as unity. The predicted results are
tabulated in Table 5.

Table 5. Elastic properties of plain weave fabric lamina: Comparison of predicted and
experimental results
Material
Carbon/epoxy

E-Glass/epoxy

Graphite/epoxy

Er

Ex

Gxy

(GPa)

(GPa)

(GPa)

58.9
57-1
35.6
57.6
64.8
60.3

52-4
51-2
35.4
57.6
58.5
49.3

5.1
4-7
4.7
3.0
5.3
--

0.07
0.10
0-10
0.07
0.04
--

89.3

89-3

7,0

0.04

SAM
EAM--PS
raSP
MMPM
MKM
Experiment
Kabeika's method
(Ref. 4)

20-3
19.6
17-9
20.7
21.7
19-3

20.3
19.6
17.9
20-7
21.5
19-3

3,7
3.7
3-7
2.9
3.9
--

0-23
0.20
0.20
0.17
0.13
--

29.2

29.2

4.9

0-12

SAM
EAM--PS
--SP
MMPM
MKM
Experiment
Kabelka's method
(Ref. 4)

28.8
23-7
16.2
80.1
32.2
.

28-8
23.7
16.2
80-1
32.2
.

2.8
2.8
2.8
2-3
3.0

0.08
0-12
0.12
0.02
0-04

3.7

0.03

Model
SAM
EAM--PS
--SP
MMPM
MKM
Experiment
Kabelka's method
(Ref, 4)

MMPM--Modified mosaic parallel model,

MKM--Modified Kabeika's model.

44-3

44.3

Wx

V7

0.44

0.42

0.41

148

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh

The unit cell was subdivided into 50 slices

parallel to the loading direction in SAM. In
E A M , the unit cell was subdivided into 50 slices.
The slices were along the loading direction in the
SP combination whereas they were across the
loading direction in the PS combination. For
both the SP and PS combinations, each slice was
further subdivided into 50 elements. Hence, the
total n u m b e r of elements was 2500. This was
arrived at after a convergence study. In the case
of carbon/epoxy and E-glass/epoxy, the experimental values of Young's moduli along the
warp and fill directions are also presented in
Table 5. The comparison of the predicted results
by SAM, PS, the modified mosaic parallel model
(MMPM) and the modified Kabelka's model
(MKM) exhibit good agreement with the
experimental results in the case of carbon/epoxy
and E-glass/epoxy.
The local bending deformation is considered in
SP and therefore the results of SP are lower
compared to the results of PS. But, in an actual
plain weave fabric lamina, local bending
deformations due to the coupling effect in each
unit cell can be assumed to be constrained. The
results of PS in which the element coupling terms
do not affect the slice compliance are therefore
taken as realistic. It should be noted that the
results of PS with or without the coupling terms
would be the same and the results of SP without
the coupling terms would be the same as the
results of PS. The results presented in Table 5
against SP combination are the results obtained
considering the local bending deformations.
Comparing the results of PS and SP of E A M ,
it can be seen that the coupling terms have
affected the carbon/epoxy WF lamina results
more than the E-glass/epoxy or graphite/epoxy
WF lamina results. This is due to less undulation
in carbon/epoxy WF lamina and larger EL/ET
ratio of the equivalent carbon/epoxy U D lamina.
This would increase the absolute value of the
coupling terms and thereby lead to greater local
softening. In the case of the graphite/epoxy WF
lamina, although its equivalent U D EL/E.r ratio
is high, the effect of coupling terms is smaller, by
comparison with the carbon/epoxy WF lamina,
because of the greater undulation of the strands.
It may be noted that the E-glass and graphite
plain weave fabrics considered are balanced
whereas the carbon plain weave fabric is
unbalanced (Table 2). Hence, the elastic moduli
along the warp and fill directions are the same for

the E-glass/epoxy and graphite/epoxy WF

laminae whereas they are different for the
carbon/epoxy WF lamina. For the carbon/epoxy
WF lamina, since aw > af and gw < g~, one would
expect E,. to be greater than Ex. Such results are
obtained from SAM and PS. For SP, the trend
can be different depending upon the effect of
coupling terms. The contribution of the absolute
values of the coupling terms is more in the
overlap region than in the gap region.
In the case of the carbon/epoxy and
E-glass/epoxy WF laminae the difference in
results of SAM and PS is less, but the results of
PS in the case of a graphite/epoxy WF lamina are
considerably lower than the results predicted by
SAM. This is due to the lower strand thickness to
strand width (h/a) ratio in the case of
carbon/epoxy and E-glass/epoxy WF laminae
and higher h/a for graphite/epxoy WF lamina.
Recalling SAM, in order to consider the net
effect of the warp strand, warp strand thickness
was factored to its mid value and the effect of the
gap was taken into account approximately. The
difference in the results of SAM and PS is due to
this approximation in SAM. The approximation
seems to be valid when the h/a ratio is low as the
slope of the strand outer contour would be small
and the thickness of the strand would be nearly
uniform along the strand width. In PS, the slices
are subdivided further into elements and the
thickness of the warp strand at the midpoint of
that element is considered while calculating the
stiffness. Therefore, this m e t h o d would give
consistent results for all h/a ratios and the results
would always be less than that of SAM. The only
drawback of PS is that it involves more
calculations and therefore consumes more computational time.
General evaluation of approximate methods is,
of course, impossible. The validity of the
modified simple models, i.e. M M P M and MKM,
is therefore assessed only on the basis of
individual cases. Two actual WF laminae
configurations and one assumed geometry case
were considered to assess the modified simple
models. The assumed geometry case was
considered to evaluate the modified simple
models at a high level of undulation and for the
sake of generality.
The results obtained from the refined models,
modified simple models and a simple model (Ref.
4) are tabulated in Table 5. The simple model
presented in Ref. 4 is only for close weave and

Prediction of on-axes elasticproperties of plain weavefabric composites

hence it does not take the presence of a gap into
account. For the present calculations, therefore,
the gap was assumed to be equal to zero. The
results of MMPM compare well with the results
of refined models in the case of carbon/epoxy
and E-glass/epoxy WF laminae and is grossly
inaccurate for a graphite/epoxy WF lamina. But
the results of MKM compare well for the
E-glass/epoxy WF lamina and not so well for
graphite/epoxy and carbon/epoxy WF laminae.
MMPM gives an accurate prediction for
carbon/epoxy and E-glass/epoxy WF laminae,
because these WF laminae configurations have
lower h/a ratios. It may be noted that while
formulating this model the presence of undulation was ignored and lower h/a amounts to
undulation angle tending to zero. The authenticity of this can be verified by comparing the
results of MMPM with the results of the refined
models in the case of a graphite/epoxy WF
lamina. Here, it is seen that MMPM gives very
high modulus values as it does not consider the
undulation whereas the undulation is the
principal parameter which reduces the stiffness in
the case of a graphite/epoxy WF lamina.
The prediction of MKM compares well with
the results of refined models compared to the
results of MMPM for the fabric structures having
higher h/a, i.e. for graphite/epoxy. For the case
of a carbon/epoxy WF lamina, though the
prediction is not as accurate as that of MMPM,
the results are also not grossly inaccurate. This is
because MKM mainly considers the stiffness
reduction due to the presence of undulation and
the undulation is quite small for a carbon/epoxy
WF lamina.
The stiffness reduction in a WF lamina is
mainly due to the lower V~' and the presence of
undulation in the strands as compared to the U D
crossply laminates. MMPM considers the reduced V~' by considering the strand properties at
V~', but does not consider the undulation of
strands. This model is therefore applicable for
fabric structures having very much less undulation. It is worth noting here that most of the
actual woven fabrics used in structural applications and made of high modulus fibres have lower
h/a ratios. There can be a combination of Vf and
undulation which would give practically the same
results by MMPM and MKM. This can be seen in
the case of E-glass/epoxy WF lamina. Figure 11
shows the variation of V~' and V~ as a function of
h/a ratio. Here, it is seen that both V~' and V~

149

are constant for all h/a ratios and a given gap.

This is true because the variation of h/a would
correspondingly reduce the total thickness of the
lamina and the volume of pure matrix regions,
thereby keeping V~' constant. This clearly
indicates that MMPM gives the same result for
all h/a ratios for a given material system and gap.
Figure 12 shows the variation of V~' and V~ as a
function of the gap width to strand width (g/a)
ratio. Here, it is seen that V~ reduces with the
same V~ as the gap increases. Now, with this
observation it can be shown that MMPM
considers the gap indirectly, i.e. with the
presence of the gap, V~' falls and correspondingly
alters the equivalent U D elastic constants. MKM
considers the effect of the reduced Vf by
considering the balance of the factored warp and
fill layer thicknesses as a pure matrix layer.
The predicted values of Gxy and vxy are also
presented in Table 5. In general, the refined and
modified simple models give lower values of WF
lamina G~y, whereas these models give higher
values of Vxy compared to the simple model. The
lower values of G~y are due to the lower value of
V~' and the presence of undulation. The higher
values of Vxy occur for the same reasons. The
values of Gxy were evaluated by carrying out the
analysis along the warp and fill directions
separately in the case of carbon/epoxy WF
lamina. The same results were obtained in both
cases.
The degree of undulation depends on the
h/(a + g) ratio. Lower h/(a + g) ratio indicates a
lower degree of undulation and vice versa. Figure
11 presents the effect of the hw/aw ratio on E~ as
a function of gap (gw) for a balanced, plain weave
fabric lamina with aw = af, hw = hf and gw = gf. It
is obvious from the plot that as the hw/aw ratio
increases for a given gap, Ex reduces. This is
attributed to the fact that as the hw/aw ratio
increases, the effect of undulation is increased.
The reduction in E~ is steeper for larger values of
gw. As seen from Fig. 11, the presence of larger
gw can further reduce the undulation and
consequently the higher value of E~ is obtained
than with lower values of gw until an optimum
hw/aw value is reached. The trend would be the
reverse above the optimum value of the hw/aw
ratio. In other words, in this range, lower values
of Ex would be obtained with higher values of gw
than with lower values of gw.
The variation of Ex as a function of gw/aw for
different hw/aw ratios is presented in Fig. 12 for a

150

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh
100

GRAPHITE /EPOXY

~,,B----- gw l a w = 0-5

1-0

Ow= 2'0 mm

90

80 --

0.8

~ ' S T R AND Vf
gw = 0"5 mm

" ~
70

0'6
o
O.

60

-o

/)'\

50
t,L,l

\~.
~N~

40

0.4

--OVERALL Vf
gw = 0"5mm

30

0,2

20
10
0"0

0-1

0"2

0"3

0"4

O-0
05

hw/a w
]Fig. 1]. Variation of K~ and Vr as a function of h~/a,~.

balanced, plain weave fabric lamina. The effect

of gwiS twofold. As the gap is increased,
obviously V~' would decrease with the same V~,
in turn the elastic moduli would reduce. On the
other hand, the presence of a gap would reduce
the degree of undulation and hence the elastic
moduli would increase. From this it is obvious

that the optimum gap would give the maximum

possible elastic moduli. In addition to this, the
fabrics with gaps between adjacent strands, i.e.
open weave fabrics, provide better wettability
and in turn better performance of the WF
lamina/laminate. It is seen from Fig. 12 that as
gw/awincreases, Ex increases until an optimum gw

40-

GRAPHITE /EPOXY

-1-0

a w = 2"0 mrn
hw/aw= 0.15

= "r-~

3s

o
(1.

0"8

""STRAND V~

0'6

h w / a W = 0-2

__~_ .,c ~

uJ

0'4

0'2
hw/aw=

0'0

0"3

0"2

0,4

0"6

0"8

gw/aw

Fig. 12. Variation of Ex and Vt as a function of gw/aw.

0.0

1"0

Prediction of on-axes elasticproperties of plain weave fabric composites

is reached, and thereafter it decreases. For larger
h/a ratios, the numerical value of the optimum
gap is greater than for lower values of h/a ratios.
For certain combinations of fabric geometrical
parameters, the optimum gap can be zero, as
seen for hw/aw=O.15. Even though the percentage gain in Ex due to optimum gw may not be
considerable, the magnitude of gap achieved can
be significant enough to facilitate better wettability and formability. The gain in Ex as
presented in Fig. 12 is the absolute value. The
gain in terms of specific modulus would be much
higher owing to the difference in densities of fibre
and matrix. It may be noted that Figs 11 and 12
are plotted by using SAM.
For the balanced plain weave fabric lamina,
the properties along the warp and fill directions
are the same. Hence, the discussion relating to
Ex along the fill direction and Ey along the warp
direction are the same. For the unbalanced, plain
weave fabric lamina, the same analysis can be
used along the warp direction to obtain Ey.

6 CONCLUSIONS
The predictions of the refined models have been
evaluated by comparison with the results of an
experimental programme. It is seen that the
predictions of the refined models match well with
the experimental results. It should be noted that
certain limitations are inherent in the use of
modified simple models in terms of the range of
applicability. The results obtained from the
modified simple models, however, certaintly
indicate that these techniques, when used with
some judgment, are very satisfactory engineering
tools.
The refined model, SAM, was used to study
the effect of h/a and g/a on the WF lamina
longitudinal modulus and V~'. It is seen that there
is a significant effect of the h/a ratio on the
longitudinal modulus, but V~' is constant for all
h/a ratios. With the optimum gap between the
two adjacent strands, the specific stiffness would
be the highest. The overall Vf of the WF lamina
reduces with the increase in the gap between the
adjacent strands with the same strand Vf.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by the Structures Panel,
Aeronautics Research & Development Board,

151

Ministry of Defence, Government of India,

Grant No. Aero/RD-134/100/10/90-91/659.
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152

N. K. Naik, V. K. Ganesh

transverse Young's modulus are bracketed by

close bounds. The bounds of G17- are given by

APPENDIX

The composite cylinder assemblage (CCA)

model (Refs 15 and 16) gives simple closed form
analytical expressions for the effective composite
moduli EL, GeT, VET and k, while the moduli GTr
and ET are bracketed by close bounds. Here, the
UD composite is modelled as an assemblage of
long composite cylinders consisting of the inner
circular fibre and the outer concentric matrix
shell. The fibre and matrix are considered to be
transversely isotropic.
The transverse bulk modulus of the UD
composite is given by

v,

G-rr~-~ = G ~ +

G~r - G~r

(km + 2G~-r)Vm

2G~n~r(km+ G~r)

v - v ~ 1 + (,~v~ + W
when
G ~ > G-~

and

k' > k m

Whereas

km(k e + G ~ ) ( 1 - G) + U ( k m + G ~ ) V f
k-

v~

G'rr(+) = G~r +

(k' + G~'-r)(1 - Vr) + (k m + G~r)Vf

1
GfTr -- G-~r

Here
1

4V~T

ke

E~-

E[

G~

4
E~

km

P-'\
G~ < G~

V~T)2Vm

fl, -

Vf

V.,/U + Vf/k m + 1 / G ~

Y+

fi~ -

k m + 2G~

f
m
y = G'rr/G'rr

flz = U

G ~ = G~mT.

The bounds of ET are given by

4kG~)

ET(~) -- k + mG-r-r(~)

G~V~. + G'~T(1 + Vd

where

G~T(1 + V,) + GfLTVm

transverse

shear

modulus

4kV2T

and

the

kf
+ 2G~-v

Vm = 1 -- Vf

( v [ T - v'~O(1/k ~ - 1/U)VW,,,
Vm/k f + Vf/k m + |/G~-r

fl,

P= y-I

k~

VLT= v~TV,+ v~TVm

The

k f < k"

yfl~

c~= l + y f l 2

The longitudinal Poisson's ratio and shear

modulus are given by

and

Here

EL = EfLVf + E'~Vm

(av~-fl,))J

when

The longitudinal Young's modulus of the UD

composite is given by
-

2G-~r(k m + G-~-r)

(1 + t~,)v,

4VLmT 1
E~
G~

4(VII

(km + 2G~)Vm

m = l + ~
EL