Characterising mechanical properties of braided and woven textile composite beams

The focus of this paper is on the manufacture of textile composite beams and on the determination of their mechanical properties. This includes investigating the effects of fibre orientation on the mechanical properties of braided and woven textile composites. Composites were manufactured from nominally identical constituents and identical consolidation processes, leaving as the only variables, variations caused by the different fibre architecture of the preform. The repeatability and, hence, reliability of this approach is demonstrated. Results obtained show that fibre architecture affects composite strength and extensibility. Composites with woven preforms are practically linear up to catastrophic failure while composites with braided preforms exhibit non-linearity prior to failure. Also the mechanical properties of the textile composite beams were determined. Results show that by tailoring the braid angle and pick density of braided and woven composite performs, the mechanical properties of the composite beams can be controlled to suit end-use requirement. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.