Modeling the tensile behavior of Milano rib knit fabric composites

Abstract

The mechanical properties of Milano rib knit fabric reinforced composites have been previously characterized. The purpose of this paper is to theoretically predict the stiffness and tensile strength of these composites. Attention has been focused on simplicity and user-friendliness. The complicated Milano rib knit fabric structure has been approximated by several simpler plain stitches, for which an analytical geometric model is applicable. After discretizing the representative volume element of the Milano fabric composite into sub-elements which contain only straight yarn segments, the overall stiffness and strength of the composite are obtained by assembling the contributions of a number of unidirectional fibrous composites. A recently developed micromechanics model, the bridging model, is applied to estimate the stiffness and strength of each unidirectional composite. The predicted stiffness and strength of the Milano fabric composites have been compared with the available experimental results. Reasonably good correlation has been found between the predictions and the experiments.