Finite element modelling of sliding wear in three-dimensional woven textiles

Abstract Wear properties of 3D preforms have not been explored in depth, while it plays an important role in their assessment for load-bearing applications. Wear simulation was performed in this paper by employing Archard's wear law. Wear in a unit cell of 3D woven fabric was simulated using user-defined subroutine UMESHMOTION linked with ABAQUS. Wear profile evolution was extracted from displaced contact surface nodes, due to geometry update by adaptive meshing. A parametric study is conducted with the developed wear model to investigate the effect of key parameters on wear rate. The results showed that wear rate in 3D woven textiles increases at higher normal loads and sliding speeds, but the effect of variation in friction coefficient is not significant.