Micromechanical modeling approaches for the stiffness and strength of knitted fabric composites: a review and comparative study

Knitted fabric reinforced composites have been investigated widely in recent years. A number of different micromechanical modeling schemes have been proposed in the published literature for various types of knitted fabric composites. However, to date, no comparative study has been made to evaluate the suitability of different modeling schemes to predict the stiffness and strength properties of knitted fabric composites. This paper presents a review of currently developed micromechanical modeling techniques for predicting the stiffness and strength of knitted fabric composites. Further, a comparative study of the predictive capabilities of various techniques is carried out based on a plain weft knitted glass fiber fabric reinforced epoxy matrix composite. Useful conclusions are drawn based on the comparative study.