Experimental Characterization and Finite Element Modelling of a thermoplastic composite lamina subjected to large shear deformation

In this work, the behaviour of a woven lamina for thermoplastic composite material is experimentally and numerically investigated. A thermoplastic composite made of hot-pressed polypropylene (PP) woven laminas is the object of the study. The laminas are composed by tapes which are made up of co-extruded core and skins. Experimental tests were carried out to determine the properties of the lamina. The experimental data are used to develop numerical models for the simulation of the experimental test. Three modelling techniques are proposed: the first one implements a macro-mechanical material model, the second one uses a meso-mechanical approach, and the third one discretizes the geometry at the yarn level. The global response of the meso-mechanical material model showed the best agreement with the experimental test, even if it does not represent the optimal solution from the computational-cost point of view.