Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Comparative analysis and the present research carried on Multidirectionally Reinforced Composites show that they can be potential and prospective candidate materials for Aerospace applications as they have superior specific properties compared to the traditional 2-D laminate composites. To overcome the shortcomings of 2-D Composites various types of Multidirectionally reinforced composites (3-D) incorporating fibres in thickness direction have been developed and they are free from delamination and demonstrate to be better damage tolerant materials. They offer the promise of being tailored to meet directional property requirements of an end use item. Mechanical, physical & thermal properties of composites can be tailored by the design of preform parameters such as fibre, matrix properties, fibre orientation, fibre volume fraction in each direction, packing efficiency, pore size, pore distribution, unit cell volume and the Fibre Architecture. This paper addresses the various types of Multi-Directional preform manufacturing processes and the preform design. A comparative analysis of UD, 2D, 3D & 4D orthogonal non woven preforms is conducted and the findings are revealed in this paper. The inferences and conclusions derived are discussed with reference to Aerospace applications.