Finite element modeling of woven fabric tearing damage

In this paper we report the tear damage of woven fabric from experimental investigation and finite element analysis (FEA). Tongue-tearing behaviors of two plain and two twill-woven fabrics were tested to obtain the tearing load— displacement curves and tearing damage photographs. The tearing damage was also analyzed from a FEA approach based on the microstructure model of the woven fabrics. The tearing damage evolution and tearing load—displacement curves were obtained and compared with those in experiments. Good agreements were found. From the analyses of tearing damage evolution in FEA, the stress distribution in the tearing delta zone was visually displayed in order to find the design principle of the high tearing strength fabric. The factors that influence the tearing strength, such as the friction among warp and weft yarns, weaving structure, and weaving density, were also discussed.