Mechanical performance of textile-reinforced hoses assessed by a truss-based unit cell model

Abstract

Employment of textile reinforcement allows the fabrication of hoses being both resilient and flexible. Due to the latter, geometry and, hence, stiffness of the fabric may change considerably in the course of loading, increasing complexity in the design process and computational methods for the assessment of the mechanical performance.In this contribution, we therefor propose a geometrically non-linear analytical model considering plain and twill weaves as textile reinforcement. The employed unit cell (UC) model consists of one intersection area of warp and weft with arbitrary crossing angle and both yarns exhibiting sinusoidal and – depending on the weave type – differently long straight sections. The therefrom deduced non-linear equation system gives access to the deformation as well as forces within the weave throughout loading.This general model is applied to weave-reinforced hoses subjected to inner pressure and longitudinal forces for analyzing load-induced deformation (i.e., twisting and elongation) and assessing the load-bearing capacity of the hose (i.e., burst pressure). Dimensional analysis and parameter studies are performed for identifying the significance of different parameters. For model validation, the model response is compared to experimental results for load-induced twisting and burst pressure obtained from testing of various types of reinforced hoses.