FABRIC MECHANICS

The Digital Element Approach Fabric and Composite Analyzer (DFCA) was developed by the Fabric and Composite Design group at Kansas State University. It can be applied for fabric and fabric-reinforced composite analysis. The solver of the software uses a digital element approach to simulate filament level motion. In this approach, each yarn is modelled as a bundle of digital filaments and each digital filament is discretized into many rod elements, connected by frictionless pins. As the length of the rod element approaches zero, the filament becomes fully flexible, imitating the actual filament. Contacts between adjacent filaments are checked in each simulation step. If distance between them is smaller than filament diameter, a contact element will be inserted. The contact element can support friction force and compressive force... Because the fabric is modeled at the filament-scale, it enables prediction of the as-woven geometry. The image on the right side shows the geometry of a 3D..

Primary location: Sacramento United States