Developments in Design, Manufacture and Use of 3D Woven Fabrics

Most woven fabrics can be treated as planar 2D sheets. By 3D woven fabrics, which began to be important for use in composites in the 1980's, we mean those having appreciable thickness, which may be solid or hollow, or shaped 3D forms. The early developments utilised special machinery, but developments in the University of Manchester over the last 20 years have shown that fabrics can be made on commercial weaving machines with minimal adaptation. CAD-CAM software enables 3D woven fabric structures to be easily designed and linked to manufacturing instructions for electronic dobby or Jacquard weaving. The dominant market is in aerospace and military applications, but there is potential in the construction industry and other applications. A less well-known use is in reinforced hollow structures to provide light-weight protection against low-velocity impact, which may occur in civil disturbances.