A Unit‐Cell Approach of Finite Element Analysis for Transverse Impact Damage of 3‐D Biaxial Spacer Weft‐Knitted Composite

Abstract: This paper evaluates the transverse impact damage of a 3‐D biaxial spacer weft‐knitted composite using experimental results and complimentary finite element analysis. The load–displacement curves and damage morphologies during impact loading were obtained to analyse energy absorption and impact damage mechanisms of the knitted composite. A unit‐cell model based on the microstructure of the 3‐D knitted composite was established to calculate the deformation and damage evolution when the composite is impacted by a hemisphere‐ended steel rod. An elastoplastic constitutive equation is incorporated into the unit‐cell model and the critical damage area failure theory developed by Hahn and Tsai has been implemented as a user‐defined material law (VUMAT) for commercial available finite element code ABAQUS/Explicit. The load–displacement curves, impact damages and impact energy absorption obtained from ABAQUS/Explicit are compared with those FROM experiments. The good agreement of the comparisons supports the validity of the unit‐cell model and user‐defined subroutine VUMAT. The unit‐cell model can also be extended to evaluate the impact crashworthiness of engineering structures made out of the 3‐D knitted composites.