Evolution of 3D weaving and 3D woven fabric structures

3D fabric preforms are used as reinforcements in composite applications. 3D woven preforms have a huge demand in ballistic applications, aircraft industry, automobiles and structural reinforcements. A variety of 3D woven fabric reinforced composites and two dimensional woven fabric reinforced laminates can be found in the literature. However, the majority of the said products lack in delamination resistance and possess poor out-of-plane mechanical characteristics, due to the absence or insufficiency of through-thickness reinforcement. 3D fully interlaced preform weaving introduces a method of producing fully interlaced 3D woven fabric structures with through-thickness reinforcement, which enhances the delamination resistance as well as out-of-plane mechanical characteristics. 3D woven fabric preforms made from 3D fully interlaced preform weaving, using high-performance fiber yarns such as Dyneema, Carbon, Kevlar and Zylon, have exceptional mechanical properties with light-weight characteristics, which make them suitable candidates for high-end technical composite applications. In this work, a brief introduction is given to the history of weaving followed by an introduction to 3D woven fabrics. In the existing literature, an emphasis is given to the 3D fully interlaced preform weaving process, distinguishing it from other 3D woven fabric manufacturing methods. Subsequently, a comprehensive review is made on the existing literature on 3D fully interlaced preform weaving devices, such as primary and secondary mechanisms as well as modelling of 3D woven fabric structures produced by 3D fully interlaced preform weaving. Finally, the authors attempted to discuss the existing research gaps with potential directions for future research.