Automated generation of 3D orthogonal woven composites RVEs including yarn cross-section variations

This contribution presents an approach to generate unit-cell models of 3D orthogonal woven non-crimp fabric composites with the ability to incorporate cross-section variations in the weft and binder yarns. The approach starts from an initial loose-state configuration of the fiber-bundles, in which each fiber-bundle is represented by a single discretised line. The discretised lines are shaped in a step-wise generation process by geometrical...