Table of Contents
Non-crimp 3D Orthogonal Fiber Architecture
Warp yarns are straight
- Fill yarns
- Top and bottom fill yarns may have slight undulation where Z yarns cross
- Inner fill yarns are straight.
- Z yarns
- Wrap around the top or bottom fill yarns during each fill insertion
- Vertical or near vertical in body of fabric
Structural Advantages
- Z yarns arrest crack growth between layers of composite.
- Double Cantilever Beam Test Of S-2 Glass/Vinyl Ester Composite.
- Critical strain energy release rate (CSERR) increase of up to 20X with 2-3% through-thickness fiber content by weight.
Manufacturing Advantages
- Infuses quickly.
- High level of conform-ability.
Preform Shape Possibilities
- Z yarns can be selectively placed through the fabric, i.e., some all the way through, others only partially through.
- This leads to integral fabrics with combined single and multiple layers.
- Many flat shapes can be folded out to make T stiffeners, H joints, Pi (P) joints, etc.
- More elaborate truss shape is also possible
Hybrid Preforms
- Yarns can be mixed through the thickness, along the width, or along the length.
- 3TEX has woven polyester, Kevlar, Dyneema, Spectra, E-glass, S-glass, PAN carbon fibers, Pitch based carbon fibers, SiC, alumina (Nextel 610 and 720), quartz, copper wires, NiCr wires, Ni wires, stainless steel yarns and others.