A micromechanical compaction model for woven fabric preforms. Part II: Multilayer

With nesting between adjacent layers and inter-layer packing, the microstructure and the compaction behaviour of a multilayer woven fabric preform are much more complicated than those of a single layer fabric preform. A micromechanical model, based on the hierarchical structure characteristics of woven fabric preforms, was developed to investigate the elastic compaction behaviour of multilayer plain weave fabric preforms. The compaction mechanisms of fabrics at different hierarchical levels including deformation and compaction of yarn cross-section, flattening of yarn waveform, nesting between adjacent layers and inter-layer packing, are considered in an integrated approach in this predictive model. Effects of structural elements at different hierarchical levels on compaction behaviour of multilayer plain weave fabric preforms are investigated in detail. Both the number of layers and shifting are shown to have significant effects on compaction behavior, while the effect of nesting increases as the number of layers increases. The predictions by this model are correlated well with the experimental data.