Mechanical states in wound heterogeneous tapes by the finite element method

Abstract

The problem of predicting the mechanical stress and deformation states in wound tapes that result from the winding process addressed by application of the finite element method. The generally heterogeneous tape construction is approximated by continuum finite elements each of which represents many tape plies. Material behavior within the finite element continuum is assumed to be orthotropic elastic. The actual winding process, in which stressed plies are added to an already stressed but partially wound tape, is simulated by sequentially activating layers of finite elements which have initial stress equal to the average winding stress. This model has been implemented in the three-dimensional code JAC3D. Numerical results are presented for the case of a regular two-dimensional circular geometry, for which analytical solutions have been reported in the literature. The favorable comparison between finite element results and analytical results for this example problem validate the finite element approach.