Weave Design Aspects of 3D Textile Preforms Towards Mechanical Properties of Their Composites

In this research, six different weave designs of 3D fabric preforms were produced which were subsequently converted to their composite forms using compression molding technique. The composite flat panels thus produced were characterized with their response to in-plane tension, bending, and impact testing. The stuffer tows per layer to binder ratio were kept 1:1 for all the samples. One of the preforms was produced without straight stuffer tows in order to categorize their role to different mechanical properties under this study. The tensile performance was found to be affected by the linear densities of the load carrying fibres and also to the distribution of resin rich regions, determined by weave design of the preforms. The flexural analysis revealed that the binder tows did not straighten and induce cracks like tensile properties, instead, they acted as a truss and improved bending property. Interlock weave designs showed better flexural properties than corresponding orthogonal weave designs. The impact properties were predominantly influenced by the number of crossover points in the fabric structure.