A Geometry Information Based Fishnet Algorithm for Woven Fabric Draping in Liquid Composite Molding

Abstract

The draping of 2D textile fabrics is an important concern in the 3D composite parts manufacturing. The existing fitting algorithms for draping simulation are difficult to make a trade-off between flexibility, speed and accuracy. In the present work, a novel fishnet algorithm based on geometry information (GIB-fishnet algorithm) is proposed. Firstly, the fabric deformation modes during the draping process are analyzed, then several fundamental assumptions for draping simulation are proposed. Based on these assumptions and the theory of kinematic draping simulation, the GIB-fishnet algorithm is introduced, in this algorithm, geometry information of the surface such as tangent vector and normal curvature are used to determine the position of the current node. The use of the geometry information simplifies the mapping calculation and improves the computational accuracy. Two geometric algorithms for computing surface/surface intersection and seeking the shortest path on the surface, which are needed in the GIB-fishnet algorithm, are also studied in this paper. Finally, the simulation results of draping on three types of surfaces generated by different algorithms are compared, and the accuracy, speed and stability of the GIB-fishnet algorithm are verified. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.20.4.6075