Abstract
This chapter presents a historic overview, describes recent advancements, and presents state-of-the-art assessment in one of the areas of thick unitized composites reinforced with three-dimensional (3D) woven fabric preforms. The manufacturing advantages and cost benefits offered by these types of preforms when they are used with vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding, resin transfer molding, or other modern closed-mold resin infusion methods have been demonstrated over the past two decades. Those include reduced labor needed for the preform handling, cutting, laying, and molding; the availability of near net shape preforms for many important structural composite shapes; the shortening and simplification of the overall processing cycle; substantial fiber waste reduction; and undoubted environmental benefits. From the structural point of view, advanced 3D woven preforms, which are free of crimp in the in-plane fiber tows, not only lead to composites with substantially improved fracture toughness and damage tolerance, but they also enable achievement of in-plane stiffness and strength values approaching those of traditional cross-ply laminates. The chapter starts with a discussion of some basic definitions of 3D woven fabric preforms and their categorization. Then, a closer look is taken at the three major categories: (i) 3D multilayer woven fabrics, (ii) 3D noncrimp orthogonal woven fabrics, and (iii) 3D dual interlaced woven fabrics. After that an overview of the literature on mechanical properties of various 3D woven composites is presented. The final part summarizes some past and current structural applications of 3D woven fabric composites and outlines their future application potential and the major means required for their realization.
Published Version
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