Image‐based model reconstruction and meshing of woven reinforcements in composites

Abstract

SummaryA method based on dual kriging is proposed to process X‐ray microtomographic scans of textile composites in order to construct a 3D representation of the fiber architecture with a regulated level of details. The geometry is optimized by using the curvature energy of fiber tow profiles in order to determine the best discretization scheme; then the nugget effect is applied in kriging to smooth the outward surface of fiber tows. This approach allows creating 3D models of variable resolution ranging from the X‐ray scan level to geometric representations with surface meshes required for numerical simulation. The method is applied to a glass fiber textile laminate embedded in a thermoplastic matrix, and preliminary results for the estimation of the local permeability of the fiber tows are presented. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.