Low speed projectile impact damage prediction and propagation in woven composites

This paper presents a novel multiscale framework to analyze low speed impact damage in woven fiber composites. The three length scales considered were micro, meso and macro. At the microscale, the individual constituents of the yarn were modeled using the Generalized Method of Cells to predict the elastic properties and strengths. At the mesoscale, a double homogenization technique was employed to determine the strengths and elastic properties as a function of the microscale results. At the macroscale, an explicit finite element model developed to investigate the response of various weaves under impact loading. The developed procedure has been used to obtain the strength and elastic properties of various woven fiber composites.