Optimizaition for formability of plain woven carbon fiber fabrics

Abstract

How to take full advantages of the strong designability of plain woven carbon fiber fabric is a key problem urgently needed to be addressed in the application of plain woven carbon fiber fabric reinforced thermoplastics (PW-CFRTPs). This study explored formability of plain woven carbon fiber fabric experimentally and numerically through stamping process, and attempted to develop efficient multiobjective optimization for further improving formability of plain woven carbon fiber fabric. First, the mechanical properties and formability of the carbon fiber fabric were characterized using the experimental tests, and then the finite element (FE) analysis involving the hypoelastic constitutive model was carried out to capture non-orthogonal behaviors of the fabric. Second, influences of blank holding force as well as blank holding area (BHA) on the formability of the fabric were investigated, and the forming characteristics including shear angle distribution, wrinkling strain and draw-in features were analyzed using the validated finite element model. Finally, a global multiobjective optimization algorithm based upon the Kriging Believer strategy was presented to optimize the formability of the fabric. The results indicated that the wrinkling strain along fiber increased with increasing shear angle; and the formability of carbon fiber fabric was largely improved through the optimization in comparison with the baseline design.