3D Fatigue Review

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properties of 3D woven DOI: 10.1177/1528083720949277
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fiber/epoxy composites:
testing and modelling
strategies
Zhenyu Ma1, Pingze Zhang1 and

Jianxun Zhu1,2
Abstract
3D woven fiber/epoxy composites as structural components have attracted great
attention in the industrial and civil fields due to high resistance to debonding or delam-
ination. Structural components are often subjected to the conditions of cyclic loading,
which detrimentally affect the service-life and damage tolerance. In this research, the
fatigue properties of 3D woven fiber/epoxy structural composites were discussed,
where 3D woven fabrics were embedded in epoxy matrix to enhance their mechanical
properties. 3D woven fabrics were classified by the geometrical structures of repeat
vertical and inclined units. Based on the testing method, the fatigue properties of
corresponding composites have been reviewed. The influence of the internal and exter-
nal parameters on the fatigue properties were investigated by using various observation
methods, and the failure modes were also analyzed. The theorical prediction models
were reviewed according to testing method, and future trends and challenges were
discussed. The critical review can provide valuable ideas and guidance for future fatigue
studies in 3D woven composites.
Keywords
3D woven composites, fatigue, testing, numerical modelling, fabrics
1
College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing,
China
2
Sinoma Science Technology Co Ltd, Nanjing, China
Corresponding author:
Pingze Zhang, College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Nanjing, China.
Email: pzzhang@nuaa.edu.cn
2 Journal of Industrial Textiles 0(0)
Introduction
Three-dimensional (3D) textile structural composites possess more improved out-
of-plane properties than corresponding two-dimensional (2D) composites due to
through-the-thickness reinforcements [1]. The added third-directional fibers can
provide additional stiffness and strength along the thickness direction [2]. 3D tex-
tile structural composites are various owing to the different processing of reinforce-
ments, such as weaving, braiding and stitching [2–4]. 3D woven structural
composites have attracted the special attention because of their advantages in
terms of high specific strength, high fracture tolerance, delamination resistance
capability, and ability to fabricate components with complex geometries [5]. In
practical production, the reinforcements of 3D woven composites can be manu-
factured by using the standard 2D loom with only a few modifications, which
greatly saves manufacturing costs [6]. By adjusting the quantity and material
types of warp yarns, weft yarns and binder yarns, 3D woven composites preform
can be produced to meet the special requirements of industry [7–9].
The discrepancy of fabric architectures affects the mechanical properties of the
corresponding composites, many researches have been reported in recent years
[10–13]. The reinforcements of 3D woven composites can be mainly divided into
two categories, angle interlock fabrics and orthogonal woven fabrics [14].
According to the arrangements of binder yarns, each category could be further
divided into layer-to-layer and through-the-thickness [15]. The topological rela-
tionship of four typical fabrics were displayed in Figure 1, and the sketches of
fabrics were also proposed. The yarn systems in 3D woven fabrics are mainly along
length (warp yarns), width (weft yarns) and through-the-thickness (binder yarns)
directions, the quantity and arrangements of these yarn systems finally deduce the
geometric structures [16–19]. Different types of 3D woven fabrics could be pro-
duced by adding or deducting the corresponding yarns [20]. The research works
were mainly focused on one typical fabrics and corresponding composites, and the
mechanical properties were fully analyzed.
Fatigue damage is one of the main failure modes of composite components,
which is affected by various factors such as stress level, parameters of component
materials, structural features and working environment [21]. The researches of
composite fatigue mainly refer to the fatigue damage mechanism, fatigue charac-
teristics (strength, stiffness change with time and its failure law), life prediction and
fatigue design of composite components under alternating load. 3D woven com-
posites experience fatigue in several ways, including cyclic stress fatigue, acoustic
fatigue and thermal fatigue. Cyclic stress is the most common type of fatigue, and
occurs by repeated elastic loading of the material [22]. Many researches experi-
mentally investigated the cyclic stress fatigue properties of 3D woven composites,
and the fatigue life for different stress levels, the damage evolution and the post-
fatigue residual mechanical properties were studied.
Numerical study has become a tool for predicting the fatigue properties of
textile composites [23]. The fatigue criteria of composites, such as crack initiation,
Ma et al. 3
3D woven fabrics
Angle interlock fabrics Orthogonal woven fabrics
Layer-to-layer Through-the-thickness Layer-to-layer Through-the-thickness
Figure 1. The relationship of four typical woven fabrics.
propagation, failure and damage accumulation, mainly caused by the failure

modes formed by their internal interactions. The effect of 3D weaving and con-
solidation on carbon fiber tows, fabrics, and composites was discussed [24]. The
influence of fiber architecture on the mechanical properties of 3D woven compo-
sites were also investigated [25]. Due to the variety of reinforcement architectures,
the fatigue tests limited the investigation of 3D woven composites. The mechanical
properties of 3D woven composites were conducted based on geometrical models
[26–28], mechanical models [29], finite element models [30–33], and multi-scale
models [1,34–36]. Repeat unit was used to predict the mechanical properties [37].
Fatigue life prediction model is established based on fabric models, and the appro-
priate fabric model could simplify the calculation and increase efficiency [38]. The
classification method of fabric models was proposed to describe the deformation
mechanisms and predict the influence of fabric structures on mechanical properties
[39]. Continuum macro-scale fabric models, approaches to generate the initial
configuration of discrete 3D woven fabric models, and discrete fabric models
were discussed in reference [14]. Based on the proposed models, many researchers
have established the numerical models and methods to predict the fatigue life of
3D woven composites under different failure criterion. Fatigue life prediction and
the evolution of composite fatigue damage were two main branches in the research
of fatigue properties.
In this research, the fatigue properties of 3D woven fiber/epoxy structural com-
posites are reviewed in testing and modelling strategies. 3D woven fabrics are
classified by the geometrical structures of repeat unit. Two typical 3D woven
composites, including 3D vertical and inclined woven composites, will be defined.
Then, the fatigue properties of 3D woven composites under the cyclic loading will
comment based on the testing method. According to the cyclic loading, including
tension-tension (T-T), tension-compression (T-C) and compression-compression
(C-C), and three-point bending (T-B), the experimental investigations are con-
ducted by using various observation methods. The influence of the internal and
external parameters on the fatigue properties are investigated, and the failure
modes are also analyzed. Finally, the theorical prediction models are reviewed
according to the cyclic loading, and future trends and challenges are discussed.
Geometrical structure of reinforcement

3D woven fiber/epoxy composites are composed of reinforcement and resin matrix,
in which the fibers bear the most of the load during the processing. The diversity of
3D woven fabric determines the different performance of the corresponding com-
posites. The orientation of fibers in fabrics, the fiber volume fraction and compo-
nent materials were relative to the influence of the performance of counterpart
after curing process. Figure 1 displayed a general category of 3D woven compo-
sites, and many reports have been proposed to analyze the influence of geometrical
structure on the mechanical properties [40]. However, the various parameters of
weave process lead to the diversity of 3D woven fabrics. It is limited to the cate-
gory shown in Figure 1. Owing to the high symmetry properties of fabrics, repeat
unit was used to represent the properties of 3D woven composites [2]. The classi-
fication and properties of 3D woven fabrics were also discussed in reference
[2,41,42]. The investigations mainly consider the geometrical structure of fabrics,
but not the mechanical properties.
Two main investigation, including the influence of binder yarns [43,44] and
interlocking patterns [12] on the properties, were conducted. The results indicated
that the effect of these two typical patterns showed the high difference. For binder
yarns, the ratio of the Z- to Y-yarns/layer was proposed to study the contribution
of binder yarns. Four levels, named 1:1, 2:3, 1:3, and 0:1, were adopted to analyze
the proportion of binder yarns [43]. Also, Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and
Acoustic Emission (AE) were involved to find the characteristics of binder yarns
[44]. For enhanced out-of-plane properties, delamination resistance, and damage
tolerance, 3D woven fabrics could increase the proportion of binder yarns when
designing composites. For interlocking patterns, the effect on their mechanical
properties was evaluated [12]. Three different types of interlock patterns, named
warp interlock, weft interlock and bidirectional interlock, were adopted to manu-
facture the corresponding composites. To obtain the finally composites, the pro-
cesses of resin transfer molding (RTM), vacuum assisted resin transfer molding
(VARTM), and vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI) were considered for high
performance composite components. The mechanical properties of composites
were analyzed with four different characterization techniques: tensile, impact, flex-
ural, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The composites with different interlock
patterns presented the different mechanical properties.
In this research, two categories of 3D woven fabrics are developed to optimize
the application. One is 3D vertical woven fabrics, and the other is 3D inclined
woven fabrics. As shown in Figure 2, the repeat units and two kinds of corre-
sponding 3D woven fabrics were displayed. For 3D vertical woven fabrics, the
repeat vertical unit occupied the whole inner part. The yarns in vertical unit
Ma et al. 5
Repeat vertical unit Repeat inclined unit
z x
x y
3D vertical woven fabrics 3D inclined woven fabrics
Figure 2. The repeat units and corresponding woven fabrics.
consisted of three-directional yarns, set as x-, y- and z-directional yarns. Only these
typical yarns in 3D vertical woven composites. Topological design in terms of
Cartesian [7], three designs of a 3-by-3 weave [25], and imperfect orthogonal
materials [45] are all belong to 3D vertical woven fabrics. The corresponding
composites with vertical units exhibit the similar mechanical properties. For 3D
inclined woven fabrics, the inclined yarns are existed in the repeat unit, and one or
more of vertical yarns are contained. The various repeat units were reported in the
past research, and the structural instability was mainly caused by the inclined
yarns. Based on the architecture of reinforcement, the influence on the mechanical
properties were studied. 3D crimps fabrics [46], shallow-straight and shallow-bend
woven fabrics [47], fabrics with or without binder yarns [14], were proposed to
study the effects on the mechanical properties of corresponding composites.
Further on, novel 3D woven fabrics, such as bidirectional angle interlock fabrics
[48] and fabrics based on group P4mm [49], were developed to improvement the
performance and meet application requirement.
3D vertical woven composites are reinforced by 3D vertical woven fabrics, and
only perpendicular yarn systems exist in the repeat unit. It showed better tensile
behavior as compared to 3D inclined woven composites due to the presence of less
crimp along the load direction. 3D inclined woven composites are various due to
the geometrical structures of 3D inclined woven fabrics, and the proportions of
inclined yarns influence the mechanical properties. 3D inclined woven composites
displayed the highest capacity of energy dissipation in the high crimp directions.
These two typical composites basically contained 3D woven fabrics studied at
present. In the following study of fatigue properties of 3D woven composites,
this category is introduced to review the research results.
Fatigue testing method

For 3D woven composites, a variety of fatigue tests can be done because of the
different parameters, which main contained: (1) the amplitude control (stress or
strain), (2) the testing frequency, (3) the loading direction (axial, bending, bi-axial),
(4) the load ratio (tension/tension, tension/compression, compression/compres-
sion) [50]. There are numbers of parameters that affect the result of fatigue tests.
They can be classified in two categories: parameters that are inherent to the mate-
rial used, and parameters that are related with external influence. The internal
parameters include types of resin and fibers, geometry of reinforcement, and the
volume fraction of components. The external parameters contain the load effect,
average stress, notch effect and environmental impact, etc. It is beneficial to
improve the fatigue properties of 3D woven composite materials by analyzing
the influence of internal and external parameters.
However, there is only limited information on the fatigue properties of 3D
woven composites. The most of researches were mainly focused on the fatigue
properties under T-T, C-C and T-B loads. In this section the fatigue properties
of 3D woven composites have been determined for several cyclic stress conditions.
Considering the effect of the geometric structures of reinforcement on the fatigue
properties, the aforementioned classification of 3D woven composites is intro-
duced to review the research status. Under each fatigue test method, the fatigue
properties of 3D fiber/epoxy woven composites are reviewed, and the comparison
study of two or more typical composites is also discussed.
Tension-tension fatigue
The uniaxial tension-tension fatigue test is the most widely used fatigue test, and
the standard test methods of polymer matrix composite materials have been stan-
dardized in ASTM, GB/T and ISO [51–53]. For the fatigue tests of fiber/
epoxy composites, the loading conditions are usually regular alternating loads.
Figure 3 showed an example of a sine waveform with constant-amplitude and
Ma et al. 7
Y
a
Xmax
Key
Xa
T time
Xm Y applied stress or strain X
2Xa
Xmax maximum value of X
Xm mean value of X
Xmin minimum value of X
Xmin Xa amplitude of X
2Xa extent of variation of X
a 1 cycle
T
Figure 3. Example of sine waveform cycle [52].
constant-frequency, and the explanations of the keys were also illustrated. The
fatigue tests, which the maximum and minimum values of applied stress or
strain were both under the tensile state, called tension-tension fatigue tests.
3D vertical woven composites. The strain-controlled and stress-controlled processes

are both used to investigate the tension-tension fatigue properties of 3D vertical
woven composites. The investigations of 3D vertical woven composites were
mainly focused on 3D through-the-thickness orthogonal woven composites
(3DOWC). There are few reports on the fatigue properties of other types of 3D
vertical woven composites.
Under the strain-controlled process, the experimental study on the mechanical
response and damage evolution process were conducted [54]. According to the
local damage distribution and characteristics of the specimens under a certain
period load under different strain levels, the fatigue damage mechanism of the
specimens was analyzed. The results indicated that the hysteresis loops were obvi-
ously under the initial loading. As the number of loading cycles increases, the area
of hysteresis loops decreased and tended to be stable. It showed that the constant
strain-controlled cyclic loading reduced the energy absorption of the specimens,
enlarge the damage accumulation, and degraded the stiffness gradually. The initial
mechanical properties were also discussed within the limits of N 50 (N was the
number of cycles), and the maximum value of the initial tensile modulus and
maximum stress were appeared when N equaled 5. Moreover, the damage mech-
anism of the specimens was also deduced. For the inner layer area of the speci-
mens, the damage was mainly concentrated in the fiber bundles (warp, weft and
binder yarn) infiltrated with resin, and the pure resin area filled in the gap of the
fiber bundles. The damage was more obvious in the intersection area of 3D yarn
system, mainly caused by the difference of mechanical parameters such as modu-
lus, Poisson’s ratio, temperature and thermal expansion coefficient.
(a) (b)
1.0 1.00
75% UTS 75% UTS
Normalized residual strength
65% UTS
Normalized residual stiffness

65% UTS
0.9 50% UTS 0.95 50% UTS
0.8 0.90
0.7 0.85
0.6 0.80
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Number of cycles (×1000) Number of cycles (×1000)
Figure 4. Variation of the residual strength and stiffness under the tensile fatigue loading [55].
Under the stress-controlled process, the maximum and minimum stress of

fatigue tests are both tensile stresses. Figure 4 displayed the variation of the resid-
ual strength and stiffness of 3DOWC under the tensile fatigue loading [55]. The
parameters of the specimens contained the fiber volume fraction of 52%, with
roughly 17.6% fiber proportion in the thickness direction. All fatigue tests were
performed at a loading frequency of 10 Hz and at a stress ratio of R¼Xmin/Xmax¼
0.1. Three stress levels of ultimate tensile stress (UTS) were selected. It could be
seen that greater applied stress levels induced more total damage than lower stress
levels. At the same stress level, increasing the number of load cycles decreased the
residual strength and stiffness of specimens. It indicated that the higher the number
of load cycles, the greater the difference of the fatigue residual strength and stiff-
ness. Also, the comparative investigation of fatigue life of 2D laminated compo-
sites and 3DOWC indicated that 3DOWC possessed the higher fatigue residual
strength and modulus, and the decrease in the fatigue sensitivity is possible due to
through-the-thickness reinforcements.
3DOWC are composed of three typical yarn systems, including warp yarns, weft
yarns and binder yarns. Owing to the different volume fractions and categories of
each yarn system, the tension-tension fatigue response in the principal directions
are complicated. Many researches discussed the influence of the yarn system on
the fatigue properties and on the damage initiation and development during
cyclic loading.
Rudov-Clark and Mouritz investigated the tensile fatigue and delaminate prop-
erties of 3DOWC that contained different volume fractions of binder yarns [56]. As
shown in Figure 5, the effect of volume percent of binder yarns on the fatigue life
curve and the residual fatigue strength were displayed. The dimension of the rect-
angular specimens was 200 25 3.8 mm. R ¼ 0.6 and loading frequency of 2 Hz
was used in fatigue tests. Figure 5(a) presented the S-N curves of specimens with
0%, 0.3%, 0.5% and 1.1% binder yarns. It obviously showed that the number of
cycles decreased with increasing binder yarn fraction. Figure 5(b) showed that the
Ma et al. 9
Figure 5. Effect of the volume fraction of binder yarns on (a) the fatigue life curve and.
(b) the residual fatigue strength [56].
residual fatigue strength (measured after 106 load cycles) also drops with increasing
binder yarn fraction. Both the fatigue life and strength of specimens decreased with
increasing binder yarn fraction, which revealed that binder yarn fraction had an
adverse effect on T-T fatigue properties for 3DOWC. The reduction to the fatigue
properties of this typical composites was attributed to pre-existing defects and
damage caused by the binder yarns. Observed using optical microscopy, the crack-
ing of the polymer matrix surrounding the binder yarns was found to initiate
fatigue damage in the specimens. It was also found that the crimp of the binder
yarns might affect the fatigue properties.
Carvelli et al. presented the description of T-T fatigue tests of E-glass fiber/
epoxy 3DOWC in weft and warp directions, including the damage development
[57]. The dimension of the rectangular specimens was 250 25 2.58 mm, and
aluminum tabs were glued in the grip zones. To avoid the influence of tab zones
and grip pressure, a fatigue test was considered ‘‘valid” if the specimen broke at a
distance greater than 2 cm from the tabs. As shown in Figure 6, the number of
cycles to failure in weft direction were larger than in warp direction for all of the
applied stress levels. Vertical lines indicated average fatigue life under T-T cyclic
loading with the ratio R ¼ 0.1. According to the observation of using backlit tech-
nique, the absence of crimp and irregular ply nesting makes a strong positive effect
on the fatigue behavior in the weft-directional loading case. 3DOWC was not
affected by delamination under fatigue loading conditions.
Karahan et al. also conducted an experimental study of the in-plan T-T fatigue
properties of carbon fiber/epoxy 3DOWC in warp and weft direction with R ¼ 0.1
and 6 Hz loading frequency [58]. The effective length was average 170 mm between
aluminum end tabs, and the width and thickness were 24.3 mm and 2.75 mm
separately. For equal maximum cycle stress level, the fatigue life under warp-
directional loading appeared about three times shorter than that under
Figure 6. Comparison of the fatigue life at different maximum stress levels:.

(a) 350 MPa; (b) 150 MPa and (c) 70 MPa [57].
Figure 7. Change of the normalized slope of the curve ‘‘force vs. displacement of the grips’’ with
increasing number of cycles: (a) weft-directional tests; (b) warp-directional tests [58].
weft-directional loading. Corresponding to 30,00,000 cycle life, the range of the

maximum cycle stress was the same (between 412 and 450 MPa), for both loading
directions. It indicated that this stress range was above the static damage initiation
threshold and the first static damage threshold. The second static damage thresh-
old fell within this range.
As shown in Figure 7, the changes of the slope in load-displacement curve
during cyclic loading were displayed, which represented the variation of the speci-
men stiffness. It could be concluded that the change of modulus before the final
stage of fatigue failure did not exceed 5% of the ‘‘virgin’’ modulus of untested
specimens.
The variations of post-fatigue static modulus, strength and ultimate strain were
also pronounced under 1,00,000 cycle, 5,00,000 cycle and 10,00,000 cycle fatigue
loading with 450 MPa maximum cycle stress. Figure 8 showed the effect of prior
fatigue tensile loading on the post-fatigue tensile static strength and ultimate strain
Ma et al. 11
Figure 8. Strengths (a) and ultimate elongation (b) measured in the tensile quasi-static tests
without and with prior fatigue loading [58].
in the weft and warp directions. It was impossible to find a mechanistic explanation
to all these controversial effects. Further on, the damage development was also
observed in both two directions. The results indicated that a combination of trans-
versal cracks in the fiber bundles, boundary debonding cracks at the surfaces of
fiber bundles transverse to the loading direction, and local debonding cracks par-
allel to the specimen facings. It was found that the crack pattern repeats in each
unit cell of the specimens. The next damage development stage included increasing
openings and lengths of the cracks, followed by the onset of splitting cracks among
individual fibers which leaded to the ultimate failure.
Compared with other typical composites with binder yarns, it was found that
the increased volume content of z-reinforcement decreased the fatigue life of 3D
woven, stitched and z-pinned composites [59]. The mechanism of fatigue damage
indicated that the z-reinforcement were detrimental to the tensile fatigue life. The
results showed that the reduction to the fatigue properties was due to microstruc-
tural damage to the composite caused by the insertion of the z-reinforcement. For
3D woven and stitched composites, debonding of the z-reinforcement and the
development of cracks within the z-reinforcement itself were believed responsible
for the large reduction to the fatigue lives. For z-pinned composites, breakage and
damage to the load-bearing fibers by the z-pins were responsible for the reduction
to the fatigue life.
The influence of carbon/aramid hybrid fibers on the T-T fatigue properties of

the composite was also analyzed [60]. Using aramid fiber as binder yarns of this
typical carbon fiber composites, it was effective to further improve the fatigue life
of specimens. When carbon fiber and aramid fiber were mixed in the load direction,
the in-plane strength and stiffness of the specimens were reduced, as well as the
fatigue life.
Fatigue tests were performed by applying a cyclic interlaminar load to thin
3DOWC specimens at a frequency of 10 Hz and R ¼ 0.1 [61]. The specimens
were rectangular-shaped coupons measuring 220 mm long and 25 mm wide. The
effect of binder yarns on the model I delamination fatigue properties of 3D woven
composites with thin fabrics were experimentally determined. The results proved
that 3D woven composites can increase the no-growth fatigue strain limit, and the
improvement increased with the binder fraction. The steep inclined angle of binder
yarns affected the crack bridging traction load, strain energy absorption and fail-
ure mechanism. With the traction load being lower but the traction energy being
much higher than an orthogonal yarn. The results revealed that the fatigue resis-
tance increased progressively with the volume content of binder yarns. Also, the
mode I and mode II interlaminar fatigue properties of the hybrid composites
(carbon fibers/EMAA filaments) were discussed [62]. The fatigue resistance of
this 3D hybrid composite was compared with 3D textile composites containing
only one of the two binder yarns. Compared to the unmodified laminate, the
hybrid binder yarns increased the mode I and mode II interlaminar fatigue resis-
tance by 800% and 200%, respectively, while simultaneously providing the in-
situ healing of fatigue-induced cracks. The improvement to the fatigue crack
growth resistance of the 3D hybrid textile composite was much greater under
mode I compared to mode II interlaminar cyclic loading.
The tension-tension fatigue properties of this typical composites measured for
both on-axis (0/90) and off-axis (45) fiber orientations at elevated temperature
(Tright ¼ 329 C) in laboratory air [63]. For the 0/90 fiber orientation, the fatigue
run-out of 2 105 cycles was achieved at 64% UTS. For the 45 fiber orientation,
the fatigue run-out stress was 52–55% UTS for the specimens. It was found that
the off-axis loading would result in diminished load carrying capability and fatigue
properties of the composites under tension-tension cycle loading. The binder yarns
increased the delamination resistance of the specimens. The results revealed that
extensive matrix cracking, fiber bundles rupture and pull-out were the main failure
mode, and no ply delamination. The fatigue durability was reduced by the presence
of the binder fibers. Moreover, the fatigue properties of two unitized composites
comprising a polymer matrix composite and a ceramic matrix composite were
studied at elevated temperature [64]. The results indicated that the composite
was subject to combined tensile and bending stresses during T-T fatigue tests.
Non-homogeneous deformation and accelerated damage growth ensue, fatigue
durability was degraded. It was recognized that fatigue damage mechanisms in
the unitized composites were complex.
Ma et al. 13
Figure 9. Typical curves of fatigue degradation (a) S-N curve; (b) Load-extension hysteresis
loops; (c) damage index as a function of percentage of life; (d) maximum extension curves for
three stress levels [65].
3D inclined woven composites. The researches of fatigue properties of 3D inclined

woven composites were mainly discussed the composites with angle-interlock
structures (3DAWC). The T-T fatigue properties of 3D inclined woven composites
were investigated by using the acoustic emission (AE) technique, light microscopy
and micro-CT under the sinusoidal wave-form cyclic loading with the frequency of
5 Hz and the stress ratio R ¼ 0.1 [65]. Three stress levels (40%, 50%, 60%) were
selected for the fatigue tests.
The S-N curve, load-extension curves, damage index and maximum extension
vs. percent life curves were shown in Figure 9. The S-N curves, as shown in
Figure 9(a), indicated that the number of cycles to failure decreased as the applied
stress level increased. Figure 9(b) displayed the load-extension hysteresis loops to
evaluate the progression of damage during fatigue loading. It revealed that exten-
sion increased when the number of cycles increased, which was attributed to pro-
gressive and cumulative fatigue damage. The enveloped area of each cyclic loop
increased as the fatigue test proceeded, indicating that the damage and energy
dissipation within the composite increased. Damage index curves were given in
Figure 10. Normalized S-N curves of three-layer and five-layer plates [66].
Figure 9(c) to illustrate the mechanical degradation of the specimens. Damage

index have been defined in terms of elastic modulus, value range between 0 and
1. As shown in Figure 9(c) and (d), three distinct stages of progressive fatigue
damage were characterized, and the characteristic damage modes were elaborated.
AE detection and interrupted tests were used to characterize the three stages of
progressive fatigue damage. The results indicated that Stage I (initial 10% of
fatigue life) was characterized by rapid damage accumulation including matrix
cracking, while Stage II (10–80% of fatigue life) featured a more gradual and
steady increase in damage including interface debonding and yarn cracking, and
Stage III (80–100% of fatigue life) showed rapid damage accumulation and failure
with yarn breakage. Furthermore, it was found that stress concentrations arose at
regions of maximum yarn curvature where weft yarns cross warp yarns. The fabric
architecture affected crack initiation and growth under T-T fatigue conditions.
Tsai et al. studied the T-T fatigue properties and damage processes by compar-
ing unnotched and notched three-layer and five-layer composites with 3D vertical
woven fabrics [66]. As shown in Figure 10, the normalized S-N curves of these four
typical specimens were displayed. The three-layer specimens showed the higher
sensitivity and lower fatigue limit strength than five-layer specimens for both the
unnotched and notched specimens. The drilled hole did not affect the fatigue sen-
sitivity of these specimens. The damage process for the unnotched specimens was
summarized and divided into five stages. The stage (1) and (2) were the initial
damage stages occurring within about one tenth of the fatigue life. The stage (3)
and (4) were the critical damage stages from about one tenth of the fatigue life to
the near failure of the specimen. The stage (5) was the final stage. It described as
Ma et al. 15
Figure 11. Curves at various temperature (a) Normalized stress vs. cycles; (b) Normalized
stiffness vs. fatigue life (cycles) under maximum applied stress of 80% UTS [67].
follows: (1) transverse surface cracks occurred and grew into the warp yarns. (2)
transverse matrix cracks were generated in the warp yarns due to strain concen-
tration. (3) primary debonding between the warp and weft yarns, and weft fiber
breaking. (4) The debonding grew and propagated along the interface between the
matrix and the weft yarn, and it might deflect into the matrix as well. In addition,
the weft fiber breaking increased. (5) The damage accumulation localized and
induced rupture of the specimen.
Temperature has significant effect on the fatigue properties of 3D woven com-
posites. To further understand the fatigue properties of 3D woven composites at
various temperature, T-T fatigue tests of 3DAWC at ambient (AT) and un-
ambient temperature (UAT) were conducted [67]. The dimension of specimens
was 300 mm 25mm. The fatigue tests were run at a stress ration R ¼ 0.1, a fre-
quency of 10 Hz in compliance with test standard ASTM D3479 [51]. The normal-
ized stress-life-temperature curves of this typical composites were illustrated in
Figure 11(a), the residual stiffness E(n)/E(0) as a function of the normalized fatigue
life n/Nf was illustrated in Figure 11(b). The results suggested that the fatigue
properties of the specimens obviously correlated with temperatures.
The hysteresis loops and residual strength were recorded, shown in Figures 12
and 13, in order to developed the fatigue characteristics and damage mechanism.
Figure 12 showed that the shift of hysteresis loops occurred at different temper-
atures and stress levels, which revealed an elongation of warp deformation under
the cycle load. The right shift of hysteresis loop and the extent of tilting were
related to the soften of matrix and micro-damage. Under the temperature of
20 C and 180 C, the high temperature is easier to occur the matrix softening
and micro-damage. Compared the stress level 70% and 80%, the decrease of tilt
at a lower stress level was obviously lower than that at a higher stress level at the
same temperatures.
Figure 12. Hysteresis loops from fatigue testing for various temperature and stress levels [67].
Figure 13. Residual strength curves of specimens at (a) AT and (b) 180 C [67].
The residual strength curves were shown in Figure 13. The residual stiffness
showed a linear drop trend and the residual strength could be enhanced after
certain cycles at 180 C. Results showed that the fatigue life of this material at
UAT had a sudden increase phenomenon, alongside an abnormal behavior
Ma et al. 17
existing in residual strength. The UAT specimen experienced 106 cycles, and the
mechanical properties were strengthened. The results attributed to the reduction of
inclination angle of warps induced by easy-to-deformation pure matrix at UAT.
Moreover, the fatigue failure locations were mostly located on the intersection of
warp and weft yarns, which was similar with the static fracture locations.
Comparative study. The fatigue properties of 3DOWC and 3DAWC were character-
ized through a set of T-T fatigue open-hole tests using a thermal camera [68]. Most
of the fatigue damage initiated and propagated relatively rapidly within the first
105 cycles and slowed down afterwards. 3D vertical composites showed more
damage sites and more rapid damage growth than 3D inclined composites. The
orthogonal composites had larger surface damage area than the angle interlock
weave. The post-fatigue residual strength of both specimens showed less than 10%
difference from the averaged open-hole tensile strength. The fatigue specimens
were loaded with maximum stress of about 60% of the ultimate failure stress
and no complete fracture occurred after 5 106 cycles. Overall, 3DAWC showed
higher open-hole static strength and exhibited fewer damage sites during T-T
fatigue open-hole tests than 3DOWC.
The T-T fatigue properties of two different 3D vertical woven composites were
also discussed. A comparison of the fatigue properties of 3D woven composites
with through-the-thickness angle interlock and layer-to-layer orthogonal fabric
architectures loaded parallel to the warp yarns [69]. Transverse cracks soon
became uniformly distributed in weft yarns, and a higher crack density was
found in through-the-thickness angle interlock composites. Transverse cracking
initiated in the fiber rich regions of weft yarns rather than the resin rich regions.
According to the delamination in the failed specimens, debonding between the
binder yarns and surrounding material was the predominant damage mechanism
of layer-to-layer orthogonal woven composites. The results showed that the trans-
verse cracks have a strong influence on stiffness and fatigue properties in both two
woven structures. It was found that the matrix cracks interact with the transverse
cracks in both woven structures.
Tension-compression and compression-compression fatigue

The T-C fatigued tests of 3DAWC were conducted [70,71]. Figure 14 showed the
hysteresis loops of this typical composites for a specific cycle. There were no sig-
nificant changes in property evolution under the cycle period 104, and the trend
initiated at 104. Finally, the stiffness reduction apparently occurred when the cycle
period reached 105. The variable curves of residual stiffness ratio were also
obtained to describe the property evolution during the fatigue tests.
As shown in Figure 15, the ratio of residual stiffness of T-C fatigue specimens
was influenced by the stress level, and the curves could be divided into three main
stages. In the initial stage, the stiffness of the specimen decreased rapidly, and then
enter the second stage. In the second stage, both the residual stiffness ratios in weft
Figure 14. Hysteresis loops of one T-C fatigue test [71].
Figure 15. Residual stiffness ratio of T-C fatigue specimens [71].
and warp tend to a slow and stable stage. In the last stage, the stiffness decreased
rapidly again after reaching a certain proportion of the fatigue life, until the frac-
ture failure. With the decrease of the stress level, the proportion of the second stage
became smaller, while the proportion of other stages became larger.
Three stages of the fatigue damage process mainly contained the failure of
matrix, transverse crack propagation inside the yarns and the fracture of yarns
occur in sequence. The major failure modes, including the crush and debonding of
matrix, the avulsion and the fracture of yarn, were observed under an optical
microscope. Drawing the test data in the double logarithmic coordinate system,
the fitting S-N curves of T-C fatigue were obtained, as shown in Figure 16, and the
curves showed high linearity and low dispersion both in weft and warp directions.
Ma et al. 19
Figure 16. S-N curves of T-C fatigue for composites [71].
Figure 17. (a) A kink band in a stuffer of a specimen of through-the-thickness angle-interlock

woven composites. (b) Schematic of the tow configuration associated with the stuffer misalign-
ment around the site of the kink band [72].
The C-C fatigue properties of 3D woven composites with layer-to-layer angle-

interlock, through-thickness angle-interlock and through-thickness orthogonal
fabrics were investigated by experiments [72]. From the observation of section
specimens, the results indicated that the fatigue process was the accumulation of
damage within individual yarns. It was found that kink band formation was the
principle mechanism of fatigue failure, and the failures of three typical composites
were influenced by the same geometrical flaws in monotonic loading. Figure 17(a)
showed a kink band in a stuffer of a specimen with through-the-thickness angle
interlock woven fabrics. The schematic of the tow configuration associated
with the stuffer misalignment around the site of the kink band were displayed in
Figure 17(b). The damage was most rapid where the misalignment of the yarns was
greatest, suggesting that it was driven by axial shear stress in yarns.
Figure 18. Sinusoidal load under bending fatigue test.
Bending fatigue
The regular alternating loads are used as the loading conditions to test the bending
fatigue properties of composites. As shown in Figure 18, the ratio of maximum
stress rmax and minimum stress rmin could be calculated, and stress ratio
R¼rmin =rmax . The frequency f could also be obtained by the numbers of T in
one second. According to the properties of components, the values of R and f
were various under three-point bending fatigue tests.
The bending fatigue tests were conducted at different stress levels, and have been
reported in recent years. At present, the fatigue researches of 3D woven composites
are mainly focused on three-point bending fatigue tests. The S-N curves, bending
stress-deflection curves and residual strength of the composite specimens were also
obtained to describe the bending fatigue properties of 3D woven composites. S-N
curve is an important factor to describe the bending fatigue properties of 3D woven
composites. Stress level is the ratio of rmax and ru (Maximum stress under quasi-
static bending). The number of times that the specimen can withstand alternating
stress cycles is the fatigue life of materials. For the description of stiffness degrada-
tion, bending stress-deflection curves were obtained in the experiment. Due to the
damage of 3D woven composites during the bending fatigue tests, the irrecoverable
deformations were generated to form the hysteresis loop. Calculated the stiffness of
each loop, and the variation curves of the residual stiffness could be obtained. That
is to say, the changes of bending modulus in fatigue tests could be presented. The
stiffness of 3D woven composites degraded under the bending fatigue load, and the
degradation of material performance is also reflected in the change of the maximum
and minimum deflections of the material during the fatigue load.
3D vertical woven composites. As shown in Figure 19, four typical curves were
displayed to describe the normal 3D through-the-thickness orthogonal E-glass
Ma et al. 21
Figure 19. Four typical curves of 3 D through-the-thickness orthogonal E-glass fiber/Epoxy

composites [73].
fiber/Epoxy composites [73]. Figure 19(a) showed the S-N curve, which was
obtained by fitting the test data according to the equation. It could be obtained
that the bending fatigue limit was around 35%. The fatigue damage cannot occur
under 35% stress level. The fitted curve indicated that the dispersion degree was
increasing with decrease of the stress level. The description of stiffness degradation
was adopted an example of specimens under 60% stress level, and with 22,821 cycle
numbers. The bending stress-deflection curve, showed in Figure 19(b), was the
variation of hysteresis loops. The area of hysteresis loop increased with the increas-
ing number of cycles. The elastic modulus of specimens after certain cycle loading
could be calculated, and the change of modulus were displayed in Figure 19(c). The
variation of residual stiffness exerted three-stage changes. In stage I, the stiffness
declined rapidly owing to the cracks burgeon in epoxy. In stage II, the cracks
spread among the component of composites, especially at the interface between
fibers and resin. In stage III, the stiffness dropped sharply until the last damage.
The reason was that the fiber broken occurred after reach 97% of the fatigue life.
The load bearing capacity of specimens was reduced, and the amplitude of
Figure 20. Fatigue curves of 3DOWC: (a) S-N curve in 0 , (b) S-N curve in 90 , (c) Stress-strain
curve in 0 . (d) Stress-train curve in 90 [74].
variation was increased. The variations of the maximum deflection and minimum
deflection were also exhibited three-stage, as shown in Figure 19(d).
To investigate further, acoustic emission (AE) detector was introduced to illus-
trate the fatigue stress level of 3D orthogonal glass woven composites [74]. Under
the condition of three-point bending fatigue load, the characterizations of three-
stage failure process and crack propagation behavior were observed and clarified.
The results indicated that the critical load levels were 50% and 90%. The S-N
curves and stress-strain curves along 0 and 90 directions were obtained in
Figure 20. Figure 20(a) and (c) were the S-N curve and stress-strain curve along
0 direction, separately. Corresponding (b) and (d) were the curves along 90
direction. It observed that the fatigue life of the specimen in 90 direction could
sustain longer than that in 0 direction under the same stress level. This is largely
due to the internal geometric structure of reinforcement. The stress-strain curves,
as shown in Figure 20(c) and (d) under 70% stress level, concluded that the fatigue
damage attributes to the accumulated failure of the specimen. The area of the
Ma et al. 23
hysteresis loop and the stiffness degradations in the different directions also pre-
sented the three-stage changes, and the residual strength of specimens were mea-
sured. The detailed failure process was analyzed using the AE detector, which were
significant to guide the application of this typical composites.
The fatigue properties of ultra-thick 3D through-the-thickness orthogonal
hybrid composites were investigated [75]. The warp and weft yarns are E-glass
fibers (2400Tex), and binder yarns are aramid fibers (110Tex). The fatigue residual
strength and stiffness were evaluated under three-point bending fatigue tests. The
degradations of strength and stiffness were also presented three-stage changes. The
relationship between deflection and cycle load was discussed both in warp and weft
direction. Due to the high fiber volume fraction and high stiffness, the fatigue
properties in weft direction were better than that in warp direction.
To enhance the fatigue properties of 3DOWC, interfacial modification was
proposed to modified the properties of reinforcement [76]. The modification
improves the binding force between fiber and resin. Comparing the modified and
unmodified specimens, the bending fatigue properties in 0 and 90 were both
improved after the modified process, and the capability of resistance to fatigue
deformation increased.
The fatigue flexural properties of 3D orthogonal carbon/glass fibers hybrid
composites were investigated, showed better mechanical properties than tradition-
al composites reinforced with one kind of fibers [77]. The fatigue properties of the
3D orthogonal carbon/glass fibers hybrid composite were superior to the laminat-
ed carbon/glass fibers hybrid composite since binder yarns were beneficial to resist
the interface failure. Furthermore, the stress levels contributed to the variations of
the failure modes of the composites under three-point bending fatigue loading.
3D inclined woven composites. The three-point bending fatigue tests of 3DAWC were
conducted under the different bending stress levels [78–80]. The specimens were
constituted by glass fiber tows and polyester resin. The fiber volume fraction of the
specimens was approximately 54%. The tests were conducted with the frequency of
2 Hz and the stress ratio R ¼ 0.1. Five stress levels (80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, and
60%) were adopted in the tests. As shown in Figure 21, the bending fatigue prop-
erties were generally discussed based on the S-N curves, stress-deflection curves,
bending modulus-cycles curves and deflection-cycles curves.
The S-N curves found that the fatigue life decreases with the increase in the
stress level, and the specimens did not fail at over 5 105 cycles under the stress
level of 60%. As shown in Figure 21(a), a linear fitting equation was introduced to
fit the curves according to the 11 valid results. With the increase of stress level, the
fatigue life presented the downward trends. Figure 21(b) displayed the bending
stress-deflection curves under the stress level of 70%. Two distinct regions (region
A and region B) were emerged, which caused by the large variation of deflection.
There was no significant degradation in the mechanical properties of specimens
before region A. The progressive damage accumulated after region A (70000,
90000), which became more apparent especially at region B. The initial stiffness
Figure 21. The curves of the 3DAWC: (a) S-N curves, (b) stress-deflection curves, (c) bending
modulus-cycles curves and (d) deflection-cycles curves [79].
gradually decreased with increase in testing cycles, which characterized the pro-
gressive fatigue damage of the specimens. As shown in Figure 21(c), the bending
modulus degradation were displayed during fatigue loading. It indicated that the
mechanical properties of specimens degraded gradually, but dropped abruptly
when the testing cycle was very close to the ultimate fatigue damage. The
deflection-cycles curves were also used to describe the fatigue damage mechanisms,
and the variation tendency showed the certain regularity. Figure 21(d) showed that
the maximum and minimum deflection of specimens increased continuously with
the number of cycle load. The rapid of fatigue damage accumulation became sig-
nificant at point 1 and point 2, and the ultimate failure occurred after point 2.
Moreover, the fatigue failure modes of 3DAWC were also discussed based on
various observations. It was found that the integrated construction structure could
resist the delamination under high-cycle fatigue loading. The cracks propagation
and breakages of the warp yarns that run through the thickness direction of the
specimens dominated the fatigue failure. The resin cracks and resin-yarn interface
debonding were the secondary factors for determining the fatigue properties.
Ma et al. 25
The results revealed that the main fatigue damage mechanisms included the pro-
gressive resin cracking, yarns transverse cracking, resin-yarn interface debonding,
and yarns breakages. Three-stage cumulative fatigue damage properties were
investigated. In the first stage, the cracks in resin began to germinate. The resin-
yarns interface debonding and yarns cracks initiation were both occurred in the
second stage. In the third stage, the propagation of yarns cracks was accumulated
until failure.
The low-cyclic bending fatigue properties of 3DAWC were also analyzed in
experiment [81]. The stress distribution was discussed, and the stress mainly con-
centrated in the middle load-carrying part. The top and bottom surfaces of speci-
mens suffered the more compressive stress and tensile stress. Compared with the
other components in specimens, warp yarns in the area near the top layers of the
central load-carrying regions absorbed more energy, which played the key role
during fatigue loading. The crack propagates mainly along the interface between
warp yarns and resin, hardly along the interface between weft yarns and resin.
Both the material damage and crack propagation were concentrated on the top
and bottom surfaces of the center load-carrying areas, which were defined as stress
concentration areas.
Comparative study. The failure characteristics of 3D woven composites under bend-

ing fatigue loading were closely related to the geometric structural properties, and
the special structure determined the specific failure mode. Compared with
3DOWC, 3D woven composites with layer-to-layer angle interlock reinforcement
hold longer period of fatigue life under the specific stress levels [82]. As shown in
Figure 22(a), the S-N curves were obtained to demonstrate the comparison of
fatigue life under various stress levels. The average number of failure cycles cor-
responding to different stress levels was given in logarithmic form to reflect the
trend of fatigue life of composite specimens. It indicated that the fatigue life
decreased with the increase of stress level. Moreover, the average number of
cycles of 3D layer-to-layer angle interlock composites was significantly greater
than 3DOWC at the corresponding stress level, and 3DAWC showed the better
fatigue resistance. It could be deduced that the bending fatigue properties of
3DAWC is better than 3DOWC due to the high crimp of binder yarns. The
binder yarns with high crimp displayed the highest capacity of energy dissipation.
The three-stage cumulative damage evolution was the main damage mecha-
nisms of both types of composites under bending fatigue loading. The fatigue
damage index (D) was defined in the term of elastic modulus. Figure 22(b) dis-
played the damage indexes versus number of cycles (D-N) curves to characterize
the three-stage cumulative fatigue damage evolution. Both stage I and III were
shorter than stage II, which corresponded to the bending modulus degradation
during cycling loads. For different stages, the damage modes were analyzed. It was
found that the resin cracking, interface debonding, and yarns cracking and break-
ages were the main damage modes. Furthermore, the ultimate damage morphol-
ogies were compared to deduce the structural effects of the composites under
Figure 22. (a) S-N curves; (b) D-N curves [82].
three-point bending cyclic loading condition. The differences in the distributions

and sizes of damage regions were mainly due to the existence of non-crimp yarns
along the longitudinal direction (load-carrying direction). The damage was mainly
concentrated in the region where weft yarns crossed over the warp yarns.
Modelling strategies for fatigue life prediction

The fatigue life prediction theory of composites can be divided into two categories:
S-N curves theory and fatigue cumulative damage theory. Two kinds of fatigue life
prediction models were proposed based on the theory. The models of fatigue
cumulative damage mainly contained residual strength model, residual stiffness
model, fatigue modulus model, dissipation energy model, and fatigue progressive
damage model and other nonlinear fatigue cumulative damage models.
A simple model was proposed for predicting the fatigue life of 3D fiber/epoxy
composites. The fatigue life of 3D composites was proportional to the fatigue life
of corresponding 2D composites. But the model was not reliable in predicting the
fatigue life of 3D composites in all cases, and the limitation was obviously [83]. For
3D woven fiber/epoxy composites, the models of fatigue life prediction were mostly
reported based on the testing results. In this section, the modeling strategies of 3D
woven fiber/epoxy composites were reviewed according to the different cyclic
loading.
Tension-tension fatigue
The residual strength and stiffness models were used to predict the T-T fatigue
properties of 3D woven fiber/epoxy composites.
The T-T fatigue properties and damage mechanism of 3DOWC were analyzed
by using the multi-scale geometry model and material model [54]. To reduce the
simulation time, the resin matrix used the nonlinear viscoelastic material model to
characterize its stiffness decline with time in micro- and meso- unit. The Switch
Ma et al. 27
Figure 23. Degradation of mechanical properties of specimens under cyclic loading: (a)
max ¼1%, R ¼ 0, f ¼ 0.1 Hz; (b) emax ¼2%, R ¼ 0, f ¼ 0.1 Hz [54].
e11 11
rule of materials under loading-unloading conditions tracked the maximum his-

torical stress expansion sphere of the material. The isotropic and transversely iso-
tropic material models were used for fiber and yarns, respectively. The crack
generation mechanism and damage evolution laws were studied by using the
crack model (Smear crack). As shown in Figure 23, the comparation of degrada-
tion in inner, surface and whole units were described, and the predicting results of
models were compared with the experimental values. Under cyclic loading, the
tensile modulus and stress peak of the inner area (inner units) and the surface
area (surface units) of the specimens decreased gradually as shown in Figure 23
(a). Compared with the whole specimen (whole units), the mechanical properties of
the inner area (inner units) dominated the main mechanical properties. The com-
parison of the whole units and the experimental data showed that the results of
whole units could effectively predict the tensile modulus, the peak stress and the
mechanical properties of the specimen after a certain number of cycles. It was also
displayed the decline of the tensile modulus and the peak stress with the increase of
the number of cycles. Figure 23(b) presented the similar characteristics as obtained
in Figure 23(a). There was no crack formation in binder yarns, and the stress decay
was mainly caused by the stress relaxation of resin matrix in the surrounding area,
which was consistent with the test results.
A model was established to evaluate the T-T fatigue properties of 3DAWC [84].
The traditional finite element analysis (FEA) was used to evaluate the stiffness
reduction and energy release rate due to crack propagation. Then, stiffness and
strength degradation were integrated within a hybrid FEA model. An iterative load-
ing procedure was adopted to apply load and distribute stresses on a unit of this
typical composites for each fatigue load cycle, and crack initiation and propagation
were monitored. The results obtained from the analytical model were compared to
experimental data as shown in Figure 24. The S-N curves of two typical 3DAWC
Figure 24. Comparison between experimental work and model prediction for 3DAWC: (a)
Two warp layers; (b) Four warp layers [84].
were and showed a good agreement. Solid lines represented the S-N curves predicted
by the fatigue model, and the dark points are the experimental data. It could be
deduced that the proposed fatigue model was able to predict the fatigue of 3DAWC
with a good degree of accuracy. As the thickness of 3DAWC increased, the number
of inner weft layers with high crimp to the surface layers with low crimp increased,
and the nonlinear nature of 3DAWC were more obviously.
Based on the theory of stiffness reduction, the process of fatigue damage evo-
lution of 3D woven composites was simulated by the finite element method. The
meso model of residual stiffness under alternating load was established, and the
degradation method of material mechanical properties under fatigue cumulative
damage was determined. The fatigue residual stiffness model and fatigue failure
criterion of the material are embedded in the user subroutine, and the fatigue
cumulative damage process is simulated by finite element stress analysis [85].
The fatigue life prediction method of 3DAWC was proposed [86]. This method
mainly includes three parts:
• Based on the unit-cell model, stress analysis of composites was performed by 3D

finite element technology.
• The modified 3D Hashin fatigue failure criterion and Mises criterion were intro-
duced as the fatigue failure criterion of yarns and resin matrix.
• The stiffness property sudden degradation rules were adopted to describe the
failure properties. The degradation models of residual stiffness and residual
strength considering the influence of fiber volume fraction were used to describe
the performance of materials before failure.
The effectiveness of the fatigue life prediction method was verified by comparing
the fatigue life prediction value with the test value. The results showed that the T-T
Ma et al. 29
Figure 25. Thermo-mechanical behaviors of pure resin and damage mechanism of 3DAWC: (a)
Stress vs strain curves of pure resin at 20, 160 and 200 C; (b) Damage mechanism in process of
warp fatigue [88].
fatigue life increased with the increase of the fiber volume fraction in warp direc-
tion, and less affected in weft direction.
3DAWC could be regarded as laminates with warp yarn layers and weft yarn
layers under tension load. The T-T fatigue life prediction method, based on the
fatigue life prediction of unidirectional laminate, was presented by using Miner
theory of linear fatigue damage accumulation and considering the stress redistri-
bution caused the degradation of stiffness in the process of fatigue loading [87]．
In depth understanding of the T-T fatigue properties of this typical composites
at un-ambient temperatures, a temperature-dependent fatigue life prediction model
was derived based on the unit cell approach [88]. The fatigue lives alongside the
damage evolution processes at ambient temperature (20 C) and un-ambient tem-
perature (180 C) were analyzed. The results showed that the fatigue properties of
3D layer-to-layer angle interlock composites were sensitive to temperature, which
was partially attributed to the mechanical properties of resin and the change of
inclination angle of warp yarns. As shown in Figure 25, thermo-mechanical behav-
iors of pure resin and damage mechanism of 3DAWC were displayed. The mod-
ulus and strength of pure resin decreased as the temperature increases (Figure 25
(a)), resulting in degradation in mechanical properties of 3DAWC at elevated
temperatures. The ductility of 3DAWC improved at elevated temperatures due
to softening resin, and the stress concentration were effectively accommodated.
As shown in Figure 25(b), the inclination angle of load-bearing warps decreased.
The load-bearing capacity in warp direction of 3DAWC were strengthened. It
could be deduced that the crimp of warp yarns influenced the mechanical proper-
ties of 3DAWC. With the decrease of inclination angle degree, the mechanical
properties of 3DAWC were enhanced. This is the reason of fatigue strengthening
Figure 26. Stress distribution and stress concentration regions in the 3DAWC [65].
after a small cyclic loading. But the fatigue life was obviously reduced due to the
decrease of mechanical properties of resin induced by elevated temperatures.
The contour images of the stress distribution during a single T-T load cycle were
also depicted [65]. The results indicated that the inner central region carried the
majority of the applied load during the load cycle. As shown in Figure 26, the inner
central region occupies the highest volume content of fiber tows, and the stress
concentrations occur at the regions with high curvature. the maximum curvature
occurs and the weft tows cross the warp tows. Different from the weft yarn per-
pendicular to the loading direction, the system of undulated warp yarns was the
main loading component in the loading direction.
Tension-compression and compression-compression fatigue

The model of fatigue life prediction was established to predict the C-C fatigue life
of 3D woven composites [72]. The numerical relationship between critical shear
stress and fatigue life was established, the maximum stress failure criterion was
introduced to judge the failure of the material. 3D layer-to-layer angle interlock,
through-the-thickness angle interlock and orthogonal woven composites were
Ma et al. 31
discussed. Fatigue damage accumulation leading to kinking, Formula (1) for the
elapsed cycles to first kink band formation was proposed based on the micro-
mechanics of kink formation.
ðminÞ sc
r ¼ (1)
s
jfj
ðminÞ
where rs is the maximum local axial stress and f is the misalignment angle for
any stuffer segment [72].
Fatigue damage accumulation was conjectured to consist of continuous lower-
ing of the value taken locally by sc. The law of degradation of sc is written
dsc m m
¼ AðDss Þ AðDrs fÞ (2)
dN
where A and m are material constants; and Drs and Dss are the cyclic ranges of the
local axial stress
A law for constant load amplitude fatigue life:
fjDr=ð1=R 1ÞjEs =E1 s0

Nk ¼ m þ1 (2)
A½fDr
where s0 is the pristine value of sc. For fully unloaded C-C fatigue, R ¼1.
Then the formula was also the basis for estimates of fatigue life. Fatigue life
data and measured misalignment angles, which determine the local axial shear
stress, support the fatigue model. Stress-strain hysteresis records taken from the
clip gauge showed that the loading and unloading elastic moduli remain nearly
constant over 80–90% of the fatigue life. Only over the last 10–20% of fatigue life
did softening and pronounced hysteresis develop. It was likely that the onset of
softening and hysteresis was a manifestation of kink band formation.
Three-point bending fatigue

The T-B fatigue properties of 3D woven composites were analyzed based on
numerical models, which were mainly to predict the stress distribution, energy
absorption and damage morphologies. The modeling established in present
researches were based on the experimental datum. Finite element method (FEM)
was generally adopted to discuss the stress distribution and failure mode when
composites under bending cycles.
For 3DOWC, the corresponding finite element model [89], a microstructure
model at yarn level [90], and whole-scale 3D solid model [91] were established
for predicting the bending fatigue properties. Different T-B fatigue damage criteria
were used to establish the corresponding models. The change rule of fatigue
damage variable could be obtained, and then the fatigue damage of 3DOWC was
calculated. Based on the degradation of component material, the fatigue damage
mechanism of composites under experimental conditions was conducted. The var-
iation of deflection was simulated by using finite element software. Further on, the
influences of warp yarns, weft yarns and binder yarn systems were discussed. The
stress distribution and failure mode of composites model were also obtained under
low-cyclic loading. The following conclusions could be drawn:
• The variation of deflection was consistent with the experimental results.

• Warp yarn system bears the most cyclic load as well as energy absorption.
• The validity and feasibility of the model were verified.
• The stress concentration area was located in the central loading area.
• The damage occurred on the warp yarns that was close to the binder yarns.
• The triangle damage area was gradually generated from up to down in the stress
concentration area as the loading cycle increased.
For 3DAWC, the interior deformation, energy absorption, and stress distribu-
tion characteristics during the fatigue process were analyzed by using FEM. By
characterizing the key failure region of composites under three-point bending
fatigue load, the structural effect and fatigue failure trend of the composite were
analyzed qualitatively. The initial and propagative criteria of fatigue failure were
proposed based on the relationship between cumulative inelastic hysteresis energy
and material failure rate. According to the relationship between the release rate of
fracture energy and the propagation rate of interface crack, the initial and prop-
agative criteria of interfacial crack were determined. The finite element model was
established to discuss the structural effect of failure under fatigue loading [92].
Further on, a microstructure shell element model at yarn level was established
to investigate the stress distribution and deformation response [93]. A shown in
Figure 27(a), the stress distribution of the proposed model of 3DAWC were dis-
played. It indicated that the warp yarns carry much more load than the weft yarns
and resin. Besides, the warp yarns neared the central part of model presented the
greatest stress distribution, which lead to stress concentrations and were easier for
damage initiation and development. To compare the load-carrying amplitudes
among the warp, weft yarns, and resin, some specific nodes were selected, and
the comparison result was presented in Figure 27(b). The tendency of three
curves was similar. Moreover, the damage modes were also discussed. The
damage was easily occurred at the regions where weft yarns crossover the warp
yarns, which showed a good agreement with the experimental results.
Based on the fatigue failure criterion of inelastic hysteresis energy, the defor-
mation and stiffness degradation were fully discussed. A large-scale mesoscopic
structure geometrical model was established to study the characteristics of inner
stress and deformation, and the failure mechanism of yarns and resin matrix were
also discussed [81,94]. Figure 28 gives a part of single warp yarn’s mesoscopic
structure. Three parts were obtained, named Part A, Part B and Part C.
Ma et al. 33
Figure 27. Stress distribution and comparison: (a) Stress distribution; (b) Comparison of
maximum node stress in warp yarn, weft yarn and resin [93].
The stress distribution of three parts were displayed. Part B and C were weaker
than Part A. because the Part A elongates flatly. The structure of Part A was
conducive to spread load out and give full play to the stiffness of composites.
The inclination angle of part C weakened it in transferring force. Part B with
structural curvature was the transition region of Part A and Part C. The curvature
difference lead to uneven stress distribution of inside and outside of Part B. For
warp yarns, areas like Part B and C were stress concentrating regions. For resin,
damage occurred at the interface between resin and yarns. Under T-B cyclic
Figure 28. A single warp yarn [81].
loading, resins were in unbalanced stress state at the interface between yarns and
resin. The stress concentrations were emerged in these areas, and finally lead to
macroscopic damage [81].
Based on the quasi-static bending simulation, the model with composites and
indenter was proposed to investigate the failure mode [95]. The following results
obtained:
• Warp yarns carried most of the load and absorbed the maximum energy.
• The geometric structures of composites have a great influence on the failure
modes.
• The stress distributions and degradations for these models were regularity.
• The stress mainly concentrated in the middle load-carrying part for the longi-
tudinal direction.
• The top and bottom surface of composites in thickness direction suffered the
more stress.
• The crack propagates mainly along the interface between warp yarns and resin
matrix.
• Yarn breakage and resin breakage dominated the failure modes of top surface.
• Interfacial debonding dominated the failure mode of bottom surface.
Conclusions and future directions

3D woven composites are emerging as an important class of advanced textile
material with current and future applications in the industrial and civil fields sub-
ject to cyclic loading fatigue. Considerable research has been undertaken to better
understand the properties of 3D woven composites in fatigue. Many important
contributions in the area of 3D woven composites fatigue have been described in
this review, though the review is by no means exhaustive. Based on the geometrical
Ma et al. 35
structure of repeated units, a new classification of 3D woven fabrics was developed

to review the researches clearly. Two represented units, named repeated vertical
unit and repeated inclined unit, were defined to discuss the geometrical structures
of 3D woven fabrics. This classification was based on the directional yarn systems
in 3D woven fabrics, because the influence of fabric structure on the quasi-static
and fatigue properties were particularly important. Numerical models are usually
established based on geometrical descriptions.
The fatigue properties of 3D woven composites under the cyclic loading have
been reviewed based on the testing method. According to the cyclic loading, the
experimental investigations were conducted by using various observation methods.
The influence of the internal and external parameters on the fatigue properties
were discussed, and the conclusions were obtained as follows:
• Both the fraction and crimp of binder yarns affect the fatigue properties of 3D
woven composites.
• The fabric architecture affected crack initiation and growth under cyclic
loading.
• Different stress levels lead to the different degrees of damage of 3D woven
composites.
• At the same stress level, the residual strength and stiffness decreased with the
increase of the number of load cycles.
• Load direction has the high influence on the fatigue properties of 3D woven
composites.
• The fatigue properties of 3D woven composites were sensitive to temperature.
The works could provide theoretical support for enhancing the fatigue proper-
ties of 3D woven composites. The theorical prediction models were reviewed
according to testing method. The residual strength and stiffness models were
used to predict the T-T fatigue properties, and the model of fatigue life prediction
was established to predict the C-C fatigue life. The T-B fatigue properties of 3D
woven composites were analyzed based on numerical models (i.e. FEM), which
were mainly to predict the stress distribution, energy absorption and damage
morphologies. The following conclusion could be draw:
• Warp yarn system bears the most cyclic load as well as energy absorption.
• Stress concentration was easily occurred at the intersections of two different
yarn systems.
• The geometric structures of fabrics have a great influence on the failure modes
of composites.
• The crack propagates mainly along the interface between yarns and resin
matrix.
Based on the summarization above, it indicates that a tremendous progress has

been created for the research on the fatigue properties of 3D woven composites.
However, it is necessary to develop the further research for the functional design of
fatigue resistance structures. It might be used in a variety of aircraft parts, such as
fuselage clips, pylon panels, rudder and elevator, horizontal stabilizer. Also, the
application of 3D woven composites in automotive industry is the best choice to
reduce energy consumption by light weighting. More and more heavily loaded
lightweight structures are manufactured from 3D woven composites, which was
used for modern wind turbine blades. The influence of geometrical structure on the
fatigue properties of 3D woven composites have been reviewed. But 3D woven
fabrics that provide the best fatigue properties are yet to be determined, although
yarn crimp and weaving-induced fiber damage are important. In addition, the
effects on the other loading cases should be conducted in the future.
The fatigue properties of 3D woven composite components were important to
investigate, but the researches were difficult and time-consuming. It is most eco-
nomical and effective to study the fatigue properties of 3D woven composites by
numerical simulation. The numerical models of fatigue properties were established
based on the mechanical models, and fatigue failure criteria were mainly adopted
the ones of 2D composites. However, the accuracy of the simulation results is
difficult to meet the requirements. With the development and verification of fatigue
models, it is necessary to further characterization of the fatigue properties and
mechanisms of 3D woven composites. Clearly, a lot of research has still to be
done in this domain.
Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article.
ORCID iD
Pingze Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9952-1911
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Article

Zhenyu Ma1, Pingze Zhang1 and

Angle interlock fabrics Orthogonal woven fabrics

Layer-to-layer Through-the-thickness Layer-to-layer Through-the-thickness

Figure 1. The relationship of four typical woven fabrics.

propagation, failure and damage accumulation, mainly caused by the failure

Geometrical structure of reinforcement

Repeat vertical unit Repeat inclined unit

3D vertical woven fabrics 3D inclined woven fabrics

Figure 2. The repeat units and corresponding woven fabrics.

Fatigue testing method

Figure 3. Example of sine waveform cycle [52].

3D vertical woven composites. The strain-controlled and stress-controlled processes

Normalized residual stiffness

Under the stress-controlled process, the maximum and minimum stress of

Figure 6. Comparison of the fatigue life at different maximum stress levels:.

weft-directional loading. Corresponding to 30,00,000 cycle life, the range of the

The influence of carbon/aramid hybrid fibers on the T-T fatigue properties of

3D inclined woven composites. The researches of fatigue properties of 3D inclined

Figure 9(c) to illustrate the mechanical degradation of the specimens. Damage

Tension-compression and compression-compression fatigue

Figure 14. Hysteresis loops of one T-C fatigue test [71].

Figure 15. Residual stiffness ratio of T-C fatigue specimens [71].

Figure 16. S-N curves of T-C fatigue for composites [71].

Figure 17. (a) A kink band in a stuffer of a specimen of through-the-thickness angle-interlock

The C-C fatigue properties of 3D woven composites with layer-to-layer angle-

Figure 18. Sinusoidal load under bending fatigue test.

Figure 19. Four typical curves of 3 D through-the-thickness orthogonal E-glass fiber/Epoxy

Comparative study. The failure characteristics of 3D woven composites under bend-

Figure 22. (a) S-N curves; (b) D-N curves [82].

three-point bending cyclic loading condition. The differences in the distributions

Modelling strategies for fatigue life prediction

rule of materials under loading-unloading conditions tracked the maximum his-

• Based on the unit-cell model, stress analysis of composites was performed by 3D

Tension-compression and compression-compression fatigue

fjDr=ð1=R  1ÞjEs =E1  s0

Three-point bending fatigue

• The variation of deflection was consistent with the experimental results.

Figure 28. A single warp yarn [81].

Conclusions and future directions

structure of repeated units, a new classification of 3D woven fabrics was developed

Based on the summarization above, it indicates that a tremendous progress has

Declaration of conflicting interests

[24] Talreja R. A continuum mechanics characterization of damage in composite materials

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fjDr=ð1=R 1ÞjEs =E1 s0