Virtual development and numerical simulation of 3D braids for composites

Abstract

The 3D maypole braiding process is characterized with complex and often variable tracks for the carriers. During the last years smaller size (4x4 horn gears or larger) variable track machines become available on the market and the areas of industrial application of these increased. The design of the new products and the controlling of such machine is complex task, possible only with process simulation. The latest development of the algorithms and their implementation in the TexMind Braiding Machine Configurator software allows numerical simulation of any configuration of maypole braiding machine, with variable tracks. For the simulated geometry of the 3D braids an automated FEM mesh generator is developed, so that the input file for LS-Dyna is created automatically from the machine configuration. This speeds up significantly the preparation process of the FEM data and allow rapid numerical simulations of the mechanical properties of the different configuration of braided structures for composites