Tailored 3D-textile reinforced composites with load-adapted property profiles for crash and impact applications

Novel 3D-textiIe reinforced composites with a stretched fibre orientation have very good specific mechanical properties and outstanding energy absorption capabilities. Additionally, advanced textile techniques and the combination of different fibre materials enable even the efficient manufacture of hybrid 3D-textile performs with tailored property profiles. Dependent on the application, 3D-textile performs can be adjusted to specific requirements regarding stiffness, strength and crash-worthiness. Thus, hybrid 3D-textile preforms with tailored property profiles are excellent candidates for the application in impact and crash components of modern lightweight structures. For the load-adapted design of highly dynamically loaded lightweight structures and especially for the tailoring of adequate textile reinforcement structures, a validated knowledge about the strain rate dependent mechanical material behaviour of 3D-textile reinforced composites and appropriate material and failure models are necessary. This article focuses on the qualitative and quantitative investigation of the strain rate dependent material properties of composites with hybrid multi-layered flat bed weft knitted fibre reinforcements consisting of different fibre combinations such as glass-glass, glass-aramid and glass-polyethylene.