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Geometrical analysis of woven fabric microstructure based on micron-resolution computed tomography data

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Abstract

The global mechanical properties of textiles such as elasticity and strength, as well as transport properties such as permeability depend strongly on the microstructure of the textile. Textiles are heterogeneous structures with highly anisotropic material properties, including local fiber orientation and local fiber volume fraction. In this paper, an algorithm is presented to generate a virtual 3D–model of a woven fabric architecture with information about the local fiber orientation and the local fiber volume fraction. The geometric data of the woven fabric impregnated with resin was obtained by micron-resolution computed tomography (μCT). The volumetric μCT-scan was discretized into cells and the microstructure of each cell was analyzed and homogenized. Furthermore, the discretized data was used to calculate the local permeability tensors of each cell. An example application of the analyzed data is the simulation of the resin flow through a woven fabric based on the determined local permeability tensors and on Darcy’s law. The presented algorithm is an automated and robust method of going from μCT-scans to structural or flow models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 1 University Avenue, Lowell, MA, 01854, USA

    Helga Krieger & Scott E. Stapleton

  2. Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University, Otto-Blumenthal-Str. 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Helga Krieger & Thomas Gries

  3. Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials, Maastricht University, Urmonderbaan 22, 6167, Geleen, Netherlands

    Gunnar Seide

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  1. Helga Krieger
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  2. Gunnar Seide
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  3. Thomas Gries
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  4. Scott E. Stapleton
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Correspondence to Helga Krieger.

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Krieger, H., Seide, G., Gries, T. et al. Geometrical analysis of woven fabric microstructure based on micron-resolution computed tomography data. Appl Compos Mater 25, 399–413 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-017-9626-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-017-9626-4

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