Buckling analysis of tri-axial woven fabric composite structures. Part I: Non-linear finite element formulation

This paper deals with the stability analysis of curved woven tri-axial composite tow structures. A non-linear finite element analysis is presented. Based on the continuum mechanics principles, the finite element updated Langrangian incremental formulation for non-linear analysis is derived. Example problems are solved and comparison of the present results with the results available in existing reference has been made. The effectiveness of the formulation and the validity of the corresponding computer code are demonstrated. The buckling analysis of tri-axial composite straight beam and curved beam that is a part of woven fabric tri-axial composite tow structures subjected to different boundary conditions is performed. In order to further confirm the accuracy of the numerical solutions, approximate analytical solutions corresponding to the different structures have been derived. The numerical results obtained are in very good agreement with the analytical solutions for the straight beam, curved beam and curved beam structures. The effect of the resin on the curved woven tri-axial composite tow structures is also investigated.