The Impact of Draping Effects on the Stiffness and Failure Behavior of Unidirectional Non-Crimp Fabric Fiber Reinforced Composites

Unidirectional non-crimp fabrics (UD-NCF) are often used to exploit the lightweight potential of continuous fiber reinforced plastics (CoFRP). During the draping process, the UD-NCF fabric can undergo large deformations that alter the local fiber orientation, the local fiber volume content (FVC) and create local fiber waviness. Especially the FVC is affected and has a large impact on the mechanical properties. This impact, resulting from different deformation modes during draping, is in general not considered in composite design processes. To analyze the impact of different draping effects on the mechanical properties and the failure behavior of UD-NCF composites, experimental results of reference laminates are compared to the results of laminates with specifically induced draping effects, such as non-constant FVC and fiber waviness. Furthermore, an analytical model to predict the failure strengths of UD laminates with in-plane waviness is introduced. The resulting stiffness and strength values for different FVC or amplitude to wavelength configurations are presented and discussed. In addition, failure envelopes based on the PUCK failure criterion for each draping effect are derived, which show a clear specific impact on the mechanical properties. The findings suggest that each draping effect leads to a new fabric type. Additionally, analytical models are introduced and the experimental results are compared to the predictions. Results indicate that the models provide reliable predictions for each draping effect. Recommendations regarding necessary tests to consider each draping effect are presented. As a further prospect the resulting stiffness and strength values for each draping effect can be used for a more accurate prediction of the structural performance of CoFRP parts.