Amir Hossein Dodankeh - Textile Engineering Dept., Amirkabir University of Technology
Hadi Dabiryan - Textile Engineering Dept., Amirkabir University of Technology

In the present study, low-velocity impact behavior of foam-based composites reinforced with warp-knitted spacer fabrics (WKSF) was numerically simulated. Spacer fabrics are recently used in new applications such as transportation and construction industries due to their unique properties. For this purpose, at first, easy-to-use mathematical equations were developed to model the geometry of WKSFs as reinforcement. The low-velocity impact behavior of composites reinforced with WKSF with different height, cell-sized and facing or non-facing position of hexagonal cells was analyzed numerically. Stress analysis of samples after impact showed that composites reinforced with high thickness, small cell size, and non-facing position of hexagonal cells have better impact performance than those with low thickness, big cell size, and facing hexagonal cells. Also, the maximum error of ۹.۸% confirms that the generated model and numerical simulation can well predict the low-velocity impact behavior of WKSF-reinforced foam-based composites.

Low velocity impact, foam-based composite, warp-knitted spacer fabric, FE simulation