Bending Properties and Finite Element Modeling of Biaxial Weft Knitted Composites Available to Purchase

In order to improve the mechanical properties of weft knitted fabric, straight yarns both in weft and warp directions can be integrated. These types of reinforcements are called biaxial weft knitted structures. Finite element analysis is a well known method for analysis of complex construction with complex material properties. Therefore, we wanted to use FEM to express the possibility of prediction of bending properties of complex biaxial weft knitted (BWK) composite structures. The purpose of this study is to investigate bending properties of BWK composites by experimentally and numerically. Two types of six plies composite panels, which include fiber contents, such as glass-glass-aramid and aramid-aramid-aramid, were fabricated by hand lay-up method. After production of composites, bending tests had been conducted on specimens. Glass-glass-aramid composites exhibited superior bending property than aramid-aramid-aramid specimens. The good agreement between the experimental results and numerical results validated the applicability of finite-element method for biaxial weft knitted composites.