Numerical Investigations of the Tribological Behavior of G1151 Fabric Through Frictional Sensitivity Study During Drawing Using a Hybrid Elastic Discrete Model

The quality of a woven composite part is influenced by various factors, including the distribution and orientation of fibers and the occurrence of forming defects. The mentioned defects can have various causes, such as tool configuration, process settings, woven reinforcement structure, or ply orientation, among others. It is common to encounter issues with friction between the reinforcement and tooling material during the preforming process. The objective of this research is to investigate how friction impacts the distribution of shear angles during the dry reinforcement forming process, using a hybrid discrete elastic numerical model. This model, which is based on a unit cell composed of shell or membrane element reinforced by linear or nonlinear connectors, has previously been developed to simulate the behavior of woven reinforcement. The results demonstrate a significant impact of the friction coefficient on the local distribution of shear angles during the forming process.