Analysis and statistical interpretation of biaxial material constants derived according to EN 17117-1:2018

Abstract

Utilising fabrics as an engineering material allows for the creation of lightweight structures, but poses some challenges when it comes to deriving material properties for use in numerical models due to the complex composite-like nature of these coated fabrics.Until recently, no international standard regarding testing these materials and deriving their material properties existed. With the publication of EN 17117-1:2018, guidelines to biaxially test fabrics and derive material constants are now available.To evaluate the methodology presented in EN 17117-1:2018 an analysis of the test results was carried out. A statistical interpretation allowed for the evaluation of the data variability while verifying the feasibility of a stochastic approach describing the derived material constants. This latter could be a valuable addition in e.g.reliability analyses.Results obtained from ten tests utilising the methodology suggested in EN 17117-1:2018 are discussed and evaluated. Next, a method to verify and evaluate the statistical properties of the derived constants is proposed.The obtained stress–strain results and material constants indicate a good consistency between the conducted tests. The process of applying statistical distributions showed to be relatively straightforward and yields compatible distributions describing the data. However, some limitations, mostly related to the sample size, still exist.