Advances in Multiscale Modeling and Mechanical Properties Characterization of 3D-Braided Composites

The 3D-braided composites have been widely used in aerospace and other fields due to the excellent mechanical properties, designability, and resistance to delamination. Accurately analyzing and evaluating mechanical properties of braided composite structures is the key, which successfully designs related structural components. However, 3D-braided composites have complex internal meso–microscopic structures, and directly establishing a solid structure model to predict mechanical behavior poses certain challenges. The multiscale research methods are a type of approach that studies the cross-scale structural characteristics at macro–meso–microscopic scales and couples relevant scales into a whole. Its emergence provides the possibility for evaluating the overall structural performance of 3D-braided composites. In this article, first, the multiscale analysis models of 3D-multidirectional-braided composites are reviewed, and then the theoretical and numerical research progress on the static and dynamic multiscale mechanical performance of regular components of 3D-braided composites is summarized. In addition, due to the distortion and variation of geometric shapes of 3D-braided composites on the meso–microscopic structure; therefore, also in this article, the research progress on multiscale mechanical performance characteristics of special-shaped components is summarized. Finally, the key problems in the multiscale research of 3D-braided composites are presented.