Nonlinear micromechanical model of filament-wound composites considering fiber undulation

Flexible-matrix composites with highly anisotropic properties have successfully been used in numerous fields to improve the performance of conventional structures or to facilitate new innovations. Many of them are designed on the basis of tubes which are produced efficiently by the filament winding process. To predict the elastic behavior of filament-wound flexible-matrix composites, aspects of the nonlinear behavior of the flexible material have to be considered, as well as the features of the distinct fiber undulation geometry inherent to the filament winding process. The present study considers these characteristics in the micromechanical modeling of the elastic behavior by including a nonlinear material model to represent the strain-dependent moduli and manufacturing-dependent geometries. The structure is characterized by a unit cell and subcells, analyzed separately and combined based on different sets of isostress and isostrain assumptions that depend on the winding angle. On the basis of experimentally obtained nonlinear lamina properties, an iterative method of solution is chosen to calculate the axial stress–strain behavior of tubes with various winding parameters. The resulting predictions are validated by testing tubes in tension and compression. The model shows good agreement with the experiments. Predictions made using the model show a strong influence of filament winding parameters on the axial modulus of flexible-matrix composite tubes.