Drape simulation of non-crimp fabrics

The draping process of non-crimp fabrics (NCF) on a doubly curved mould determines the fibre distribution and hence the processing and performance of the NCF product. A composite Finite Element (FE) model is developed to simulate the draping process of NCFs on arbitrary geometries. Tool-part interaction is taken into account. Problem regions with possible fibre buckling can be indicated and the fibre distribution in the final NCF is predicted. The model contains a novel modelling approach to simulate the slip of the individual fibre layers. Additional layers and degrees of freedom were added to a membrane element to simulate the slipping layers with one element through the thickness. This enables efficient FE simulations of the draping process. Several experiments were performed: measurement of the thickness change during shear deformation, fibre pull-out experiments and a drape experiment. The latter is compared with FE simulations.