Numerical analysis of the mechanical behaviour of an entangled cross-linked fibrous network

A numerical model of the mechanical behaviour of a fibrous material made of carbon fibres cross-linked with a spray of epoxy resin has been developed. This model makes it possible to study the effect of some morphological or mechanical parameters. The size of the representative volume element (RVE) was evaluated for it to be representative of the used fibrous material. The model made it possible to study the effect of the fibre diameter and the Young’s modulus of the distance between junctions or of the volume fraction. The increasing of the compressive Young’s modulus is an important goal to use the proposed fibrous material as core material for a sandwich structure. The proposed model shows that an important gain is possible if the manufacturing process is better controlled, in particular if the fibre tows are better separated or if the fibre orientation is more isotropic.