Large deformation of variable thickness woven composite preforms considering interlayer difference. Application: Forming simulation of a blade preform

The main objective of this work was to investigate the interlayer difference of 3D orthogonal woven fabrics (3DOWFs) during deformation. Tensile, shear, and compression tests were performed on two types of 3DOWFs with different layer numbers. To determine the variations in the deformation behavior within the fabric, a layer decomposition method was developed. This process involved the decomposition of the fabric into two layers, the inner layer and the outer layer, depending on the difference in structural features of the yarn. Then the deformation characteristics of the inner layer and outer layer were derived based on their series or parallel relationship in the load path. The results indicate that there are noticeable variations in the deformation characteristics among the layers of 3DOWF, which are associated with the interwoven structure of the yarns. In particular, in compression deformation, the difference in yarn structure causes the initial stage (Compressive strain <0.2) of fabric compression deformation to be mostly attributed to the compression of the outer layer. Subsequently, the deformations of the inner layer and outer layer gradually tend to balance. Based on a simple anisotropic hyperelasticity model, the interlayer differences were considered in the blade preform simulation. The simulation result shows a good agreement with the preforming results. The results show that the interlayer difference has a significant impact on the deformation of the blade preform, particularly in the posterior edge region, which is not strongly compressed.