Modelling and analysis of three dimensional woven fabrics

Three dimensional (3D) fabrics can be defined as a single fabric system, where constituent yarns are disposed in three perpendicular directions of the structure. 3D woven fabrics have a particular importance among these type of fabrics with their integrated and resistance structure. 3D woven fabrics and their reinforced composites can be used in various industries such as aviation, defense, medical and automotive thanks to their outstanding properties in- plane and out- of- plane directions. It was purposed in this PhD thesis that producing the 3D warp interlock carbon fabrics, which have different structural properties and investigating their behaviors under distinct types of loads. The tensile, shear, bending and formability tests were applied to the fabrics, which were diversified according to the presence of stuffer warp yarns, the parameters of binding warp yarns and the weave report. As the complex formability behavior of fabrics could be clarified, the maximum formability load, draw- in distances, local shear angle and locking angle values were analyzed and the optimal structure was determined. Additionally, the further analyses were carried out on the mechanical properties of 3D warp interlock carbon fabrics using the statistical methods and the models were developed to predict the formability properties.