Journal of Textile Science & Engineering

Experimental and FEM Characterization of Rayon Fibre

Abstract

Johnson Ezenwankwo*, Iva Petrikova and Josef Zak

Natural and synthetic fibre has gained wide application in science and technology. They are now used as reinforcement material for composites in automobile, aviation, textile, apparel and other related industries. In spite of their inherent drawbacks (disposal method, anisotropic nature, production cost and technical complexities) natural fibres present a wide range of advantages ranging from availability, eco-friendliness and a reasonable competitiveness with sheet metals and other counterparts. Natural fibres, in particular, offer light weight as well as good strength when used both as a reinforcement material in various matrix configurations. In this article, the behaviour and response of samples of a 4-ply viscose rayon material loaded in tension is investigated. The response of viscose-rayon yarn in various tensile loading configurations was carried out. Two types of single fibre multifilament material is cut out from separate spools 1840 dtex and 2440 dtex; the remaining two samples tested were plain woven fabric – single and 4-layer. These tensile tests were done to estimate the maximum yield strength of the material and the onset of plastic behaviour. A Unit Cell (UC) of the material is developed in TexGen, commercial software, as a Representative Volume Element (RVE). The model is imported into an FEA tool and the simulation results are compared. Symmetry and periodic boundary conditions are imposed using the planar symmetry function in Ansys and the simple Dirichlet boundary condition in terms of displacement. The results showed good agreement with the experimental results and helped to characterize the material for further use in composite development.