Original article Experimental analysis and numerical modelling of dry carbon woven reinforcement preforming W Najjar 1 , X Legrand 2 , D Soulat 2 and P Dal Santo 3 Abstract In this paper, an experimental and numerical study of the preforming process of the G1151 carbon woven fabric reinforcement is presented. The experimental analysis was based on tensile and shear tests. These tests were important to analyse the behaviour of this particular woven reinforcement and to figure out some key phenomena related to its deformation process. The numerical modelling is implemented in the commercial FEM software (Abaqus) using a discrete finite element approach. The model is built using the concept of a “unit cell” formulated with a Hencky linear elastic shell/membrane elements coupled with axial connectors. The connectors replace bar and beam elements used in previous works and can have a linear or a non-linear behaviour. Shell finite elements are chosen to describe the in-plane shear stiffness and to manage contact phenomena. The model parameters identification technique is based on experimental constitutive tests and an inverse optimisation procedure. The model has been experimentally validated for the case of hemispherical single layer preforming of the G1151 woven fabric. Keywords Woven carbon fabric, forming simulation, G1151 reinforcement Introduction To improve the integrity and the lightening of aeronau- tical structures, the use of composite materials with textile reinforcement is becoming an interesting substitute for metallic materials in manufacturing of structural and non-structural components of aircrafts. The G1151 woven carbon fabric is one of those rein- forcements which currently receive a lot of attention for potential use in aircraft structure. The main proc- essing way of the G1151 reinforced composite is resin transfer moulding (RTM) which is a popular manufacturing processes for industrial composite materials. 1–3 The first step of the RTM process is dry preforming of the fabric reinforcement sheet. During this step, significant local deformations may occur, especially in-plane shear strains, 4 which result in local variations of the textile reinforcement geometry. These variations strongly decrease the permeability of the reinforcement and consequently affect the resin flow impregnation. 5–7 The simulation of this preforming step becomes nec- essary to decide the feasibility of the forming process, to predict the fibre directions in the composite compo- nent and optimize process parameters during this step. Finite element methods are commonly used to sim- ulate the preforming process; these approaches consid- er the physics and the mechanical behaviour of the textile reinforcement. 8 The fabric can be modelled as continuum media with specific material behaviour. 9–13 Recently, Denis et al. 14 proposed a dissipative consti- tutive model analogous to these used to model metal plasticity. Another approach consists of using discrete structural elements to describe the textile structure at the mesoscopic scale. 15–17 A semi-discrete method, 1 LMPE, Ecole Nationale Supe ´rieure d’Inge ´nieurs de Tunis (Tunis University), Tunis, Tunisia 2 GEMTEX, Ecole Nationale Supe ´rieure des Arts et Industries Textiles, Roubaix Cedex, France 3 LAMPA, Arts et Me ´tier ParisTech Angers, Angers Cedex, France Corresponding author: W Najjar, LMPE, Ecole Nationale Supe ´rieure d’Inge ´nieurs de Tunis (Tunis University)-Avenue Taha Hussein Montfleury, Tunis 1008, Tunisia. Email: walid.najjar.ensit@outlook.com Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites 0(0) 1–21 ! The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0731684419859071 journals.sagepub.com/home/jrp