222 Multilayer or 3D Weaving
The first major difference between conventional weaving and multilayer weaving is the requirement to have multiple layers of warp yarns. The greater the number of layers required and thus the thickness of the preform or the wider the fabric produced, means a larger number of individual warp yarns that have to be fed into the loom and controlled during the lifting sequence. Therefore the source of the warp yarn for multilayer weaving is generally from large creels in which each warp yarn comes...
122 Applications of 3D Braided Composites
The braiding process is familiar to many fields of engineering as standard 2D braided carbon and glass fabric have been used for many years in a variety of high technology items, such as golf clubs, aircraft propellers and yacht masts Popper, 1991 . 3D braided preform has a number of important advantages over many types of 2D fabric preforms and prepreg tapes, including high levels of conformability, drapability, torsional stability and structural integrity. Furthermore, 3D braiding processes...
Introduction
Fibre reinforced polymer FRP composites have emerged from being exotic materials used only in niche applications following the Second World War, to common engineering materials used in a diverse range of applications. Composites are now used in aircraft, helicopters, space-craft, satellites, ships, submarines, automobiles, chemical processing equipment, sporting goods and civil infrastructure, and there is the potential for common use in medical prothesis and microelectronic devices. Composites...
231 2D Braiding
The standard 2D braiding technique is illustrated in Figure 2.12, which demonstrates how the counter-rotation of two sets of yarn carriers around a circular frame forms the braided fabric. This movement of the yarn carriers is accomplished through the use of horn gears which allow the transfer of the carriers from one gear to the next. The fabric architecture produced by this process is highly interlinked and normally in a flat or tubular form, as shown in Figure 2.13. The style and size of the...
Manufacture of 3D Fibre Preforms
In spite of the demonstrated advantages of 3D composites in their through-thickness and impact performance, the use of these materials is not yet widespread. A major reason for this limited use is related to the maturity of the manufacturing processes being used to produce the preforms and the understanding and process control required to design and cost-effectively manufacture a preform for a specific application. The manufacture of 3D fibre preforms for composite structures can be...