Constitutive equations based on cell modeling method for 3D circular braided glass fiber reinforced composites

The cell modeling homogenization method to derive the constitutive equation considering the microstructures of the fiber reinforced composites has been previously developed for composites with simple microstructures such as 2D plane composites and 3D rectangular shaped composites. Here, the method has been further extended for 3D circular braided composites, utilizing B-spline curves to properly describe the more complex geometry of 3D braided composites. For verification purposes, the method has been applied for orthotropic elastic properties of the 3D circular braided glass fiber reinforced composite, in particular for the tensile property. Prepregs of the specimen have been fabricated using the 3D braiding machine through RTM (resin transfer molding) with epoxy as a matrix. Experimentally measured uniaxial tensile properties agreed well with predicted values obtained for two volume fractions.     

Nonsteady plane-strain ideal forming without elastic dead-zone

Ever since the ideal forming theory has been developed for process design purposes, application has been limited to sheet forming and, for bulk forming, to two-dimensional steady flow. Here, application for the non-steady case was made under the plane-strain condition. In the ideal flow, material elements deform following the minimum plastic work path (or mostly proportional true strain path) so that the ideal plane-strain flow can be effectively described using the two-dimensional orthogonal convective coordinate system. Besides kinematics, schemes to optimize preform shapes for a prescribed final part shape and also to define the evolution of shapes and frictionless boundary tractions were developed. Discussions include numerical calculations made for a real automotive part under forging.