3D Composite Flexural Properties
3D Composite Flexural Properties
3D Composite Flexural Properties
h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: In this study, a new weaving technology with a modified heddle position system based on a self-built
Received 23 August 2021 three-dimensional (3D) weaving loom is designed, and four typical 3D woven-structure textile groups
Revised 31 October 2021 are manufactured: layer-to-layer orthogonal weaving, through-thickness orthogonal weaving, layer-to-
Accepted 20 November 2021
layer angle-interlock weaving, and through-thickness angle-interlock weaving. The new weaving tech-
Available online 22 November 2021
nology has great potential for manufacturing various 3D woven structures effectively and efficiently.
The fabricated 3D woven textile-reinforced epoxy-resin composites undergo quasi-static three-point
Keywords:
bending tests to study the influence of the woven structure on the flexural performance and failure
Three-dimensional textile weaving
technology
modes along the textile warp and weft directions. The composites along the weft direction (weft-
Textile structure direction beams) have a larger flexural modulus but smaller failure strain compared with the warp direc-
Fiber-reinforced composite tion (warp-direction beams) for all woven-structure types. Among the designed 3D textile composites,
Flexural test the angle-interlock woven structures have a larger flexural strength (50%), modulus (40%), and failure
Failure mode resistance than have the orthogonal-woven structures. Overall, the through-thickness angle-interlock
woven structure has the best flexural-failure resistance among all textile structures, and is the optimal
structural design based on this modified weaving technology.
Ó 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, Shinshu University, Ueda 386-8567, Japan
E-mail address: [email protected] (Q.-Q. Ni).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2021.110267
0264-1275/Ó 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
2
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
Table 1
Heddle position information in one weave repeat of a through-thickness angle-interlock woven.
Shedding Heddle 1 position(Binder Heddle 2 position(Binder Heddle 3 position(Binder Heddle 4 Heddle 5 Heddle 6 Heddle 7 Heddle 8
1) 2) 3) position(Binder position position position position
4) (Binder (Binder (Binder (Binder
5) 6) 7) 8)
First 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2
Second 2 1 2 3 4 5 4 3
Third 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 4
Fourth 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5
Fifth 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4
Sixth 4 5 4 3 2 1 2 3
Seventh 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 2
Eighth 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1
there are three layers of warp yarn and four layers of weft yarn, are 24 warp yarns, 32 weft yarns, and 8 binder yarns in one unit for
and the yarn arrangement in the warp direction is three warp TTAIW and 6 warp yarns, 8 weft yarns, and 2 binder yarns in one
yarns (one warp yarn in each layer) followed by one binder yarn. unit for TTOW. Surface top-view photographs of the six 3D woven
In orthogonal-woven structures, the binder yarn is perpendicular textiles are shown in Fig. 4.
to the warp and weft yarn theoretically, and, in angle-interlock
woven structures, binder yarns have an angle smaller than 90° 2.3. Three-dimensional textile composites
from the warp direction as designed. Moreover, in through-
thickness woven structures, all four weft-yarn layers are bounded E-glass fiber (1150tex, RS 110 QL-520, Nitto Boseki Co., Japan)
from the top to the bottom layer by the binder yarn, whereas, in was used for the warp and weft yarn, and aramid fiber (330tex,
layer-to-layer woven structures, two or three weft-yarn layers KevlarÒ 29, Du Pont-Toray Co., Japan) was used for the binder yarn.
are bounded. Accordingly, in this study, for the layer-to-layer The 3D hybrid woven textiles were produced with comparable
woven structures, both layer numbers are used: two adjacent yarn density and textile-area density; the warp-yarn density is
weft-yarn layers are bonded together for LLOW-1 and LLAIW-1, roughly 3.5 ends/cm/layer, the binder-yarn density is roughly 3.5
and three adjacent weft-yarn layers are bonded together for ends/cm, and the weft-yarn density is roughly 2.0–3.6 picks/cm/
LLOW-2 and LLAIW-2. Fig. 3 shows 3D models, weft-z and warp- layer. Thermoset epoxy resin and a hardener (DENATITE
z diagrams in one unit cell of the six 3D woven textiles. The unit XNR6815 and DENATITE XNH6815, Nagase ChemteX Co., Japan)
cell sizes vary because of structural differences. For instance, there were used for the composite matrix. The textiles were infused
Fig. 3. Three-dimensional models, weft-z and warp-z schematic diagrams: (a) LLOW-1, (b) LLOW-2, (c) TTOW, (d) LLAIW-1, (e) LLAIW-2, and (f) TTAIW.
4
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
Fig. 4. Surface top-view photographs of (a) LLOW-1, (b) LLOW-2, (c) TTOW, (d) Fig. 5. (a) Schematic and (b) experimental setup for three-point bending test.
LLAIW-1, (e) LLAIW-2, and (f) TTAIW.
within a vacuum bag using vacuum-assisted resin-transfer mold- 3.1. Internal geometry of three-dimensional woven composites
ing (VARTM) technology. The epoxy resin and hardener were
heated separately at 40 °C in an oven and then mixed with a Optical microscopy was applied to observe composite cross sec-
weight ratio of 100:27. The mixed resin was pumped into the vac- tions and internal geometry. The internal geometry of the 3D
uum bag with a vacuum pump, and the pressure was about one woven composites is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Different colors were
bar. After infusion, the composite was cured within the sealed vac- used to separate the warp, weft, and binder yarns as well as resin
uum bag for 24 h at room temperature. The normalized parameters matrix. Obvious geometrical differences can be observed for the
of the six 3D woven textile-reinforced composites are summarized following parameters: binder-yarn path, undulation angle, and
in Table 2. The composite fiber volume fraction was calculated by a cross-section shape; warp- and weft-yarn waviness, distribution,
resin burn-off method. and cross-section shape; and resin-pocket shape and distribution.
All woven structures have relative uniform weft-yarn distribution.
This is mainly because the binder yarn is perpendicular to the weft
2.4. Mechanical testing yarn, and, therefore, the weft yarn does not exhibit large shifting,
at the same time, binder yarn is parallel to the warp yarn, and adja-
The 3D woven textile-reinforced composite beam specimens cent warp yarns shift and attach to each other easily if there is no
underwent three-point bending tests at room temperature, the binder yarn between them in layer-to-layer woven group. The
schematic and experimental setup of which are shown in Fig. 5. warp-yarn shift has an influence on the weft-yarn straightness.
The beam specimens were cut from composite plate along textile For instance, for LLOW and LLAIW, the weft yarn, especially the
warp and weft directions and named as warp-direction beam central two layers, has an obvious waviness owing to warp-yarn
and weft-direction beam, respectively. For example, in warp- shifting. It should be noted that the binder yarn also influences
direction beams, warp and binder yarns run in beam length direc- the weft-yarn waviness, particularly at the interlaced part. Among
tion and weft yarns run in beam width direction. The beam speci- all woven structures, the through-thickness woven structures have
mens had a length of 110 mm, a width of 25 mm, and a thickness of relative uniform warp- and weft-yarn distribution and cross-
roughly 2.4–2.8 mm. Three warp-direction beam specimens were section shape, which is mainly because the binder yarn has a con-
tested as well as three weft-direction beams for each textile- sistent path in these 3D woven textile systems: it moves in the
structure composite. A universal testing machine (AG-20kND, Shi- through-thickness direction and binds weft-yarn layers from top
madzu Co., Japan) with a 20-kN load cell was used. The support to bottom, thereby securing structural uniformity.
span was 80 mm long with a loading-nose diameter of 10 mm, As shown in Fig. 6, the binder-yarn peak span corresponds to
and a loading-nose displacement speed of 5 mm/min was applied one unit cell along the warp direction (Lx) in each woven structure.
until beam failure occurred. Optical microscopy was applied to In Fig. 7, the arrows correspond to one unit cell along the weft
observe and analyze internal structural failure after flexural direction (Ly) in each woven structure. The binder-yarn weave
testing. length (L) and height (h), the undulation degree is measured, in
Table 2
Normalized parameters of the three-dimensional woven textiles and reinforced composites.
5
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
Fig. 6. Internal geometry of three-dimensional woven composites (parallel to the warp direction).
which undulation degree of binder-yarn is defined as the largest processes, which reduces the binder-yarn tension and increases
angle form warp direction in this study; a larger angle means a lar- the weft-yarn density. The angle-interlock woven structures have
ger binder yarn undulation. Table 3 shows the internal geometry of a weft-yarn density that is roughly 1.5 times larger than that of
the six 3D woven composites, from which it is evident that the orthogonal-woven structures, as well as a composite fiber volume
TTAIW structure has the largest real unit cell size, followed by fraction that is roughly 1.3 times larger.
LLAIW, LLOW, and TTOW. Moreover, the TTOW structure has the
largest binder-yarn undulation, followed by LLOW-2, TTAIW, 3.2. Mechanical properties
LLOW-1, LLAIW-2, and LLAIW-1. For both LLOW and LLAIW, the
binder yarn that binds three weft-yarn layers has a larger undula- In this study, the support span-to-thickness ratio of the beam
tion than has the binder yarn binding two weft-yarn layers. specimens was greater than 16, and the deflection was larger than
The angle-interlock woven structures have the largest weft- 10% of the support span. Stress was calculated by Eq. (1) to correct
yarn density values and thus exhibit a larger composite fiber vol- the end forces at the support noses, and strain was calculated by
ume fraction than do the orthogonal-woven structures, which Eq. (2) in accordance with ASTM D790 [27]:
can be attributed to structural differences and weaving condition
limits. For TTOW, the binder yarn binds weft-yarn layers from r ¼ 3PL=2bd2 ½1 þ 6ðd=LÞ2 4ðd=LÞðd=LÞ ð1Þ
top to bottom, and two adjacent binder yarns move in opposite
directions in each shedding process, which means it undergoes
the largest tension during the weaving process, and, as such, it is
e ¼ 6dd=L2 ð2Þ
difficult to obtain a large weft-yarn density. Alternatively, for where r denotes the stress on the outer surface at the midspan, P
layer-to-layer and angle-interlock structures, the binder yarn binds denotes the applied force, L denotes the support span, b denotes
two or three adjacent weft-yarn layers in two continuous shedding the beam width, d denotes the beam thickness, e denotes the max-
6
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
Fig. 7. Internal geometry of three-dimensional woven composites (parallel to the weft direction).
Table 3
Internal geometry information of three-dimensional woven composites.
7
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
Fig. 9. TTAIW composite deformation model under three-point bending test: (a) warp-direction beam and (b) weft-direction beam.
8
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
Fig. 10. Flexural property information under three-point bending: (a) flexural modulus, (b) flexural strength, (c) failure strain, (d) deformation energy, (e) relationship
between flexural modulus and weft-yarn density, and (f) relationship between flexural strength and weft-yarn density.
not on the beam surface, which means that yarn kink-band failure is Overall, LLAIW-1, LLAIW-2, and TTAIW have the smallest
unlikely compared with weft-direction beams, and, thus, there are binder-yarn undulation angle and the largest composite fiber vol-
no obvious small load drops before the final load drop in the flexural ume fraction, and, as such, compared with those of LLOW-1,
stress–strain figures shown in Fig. 8(a). The angle-interlock woven LLOW-2, and TTOW, their flexural strength and modulus are larger
structures have a larger flexural strength than have the orthogonal- by 50% and 40%, respectively. The flexural modulus is more sensi-
woven structures, perhaps owing to the higher weft-yarn density tive to weft-yarn density and composite fiber volume fraction,
and structural superiority. As shown in Fig. 10(f), there is no clear whereas the flexural strength is more sensitive to woven structure.
tendency between flexural strength and weft-yarn density, espe- Indeed, a smaller binder-yarn undulation angle may have
cially for weft-direction beams; thus, the woven structure may con- increased the tensile strength for warp-direction composite beams
tribute more to the flexural strength. during three-point bending [29].
The energy required for beam failure is referred to as the
composite-failure resistance and was calculated from the area under 3.3. Failure modes
the load–deflection curves. The warp-direction beams exhibit a
smaller bending load but larger deflection than do weft-direction Fig. 11 shows strong-light background photographs of warp-
beams for all structures, and accordingly larger failure strain for and weft-direction beam specimens of six woven types after flexu-
warp-direction beams, as shown in Fig. 10(c). Basically, angle- ral test. Sunlight was used as the strong-light source positioned
interlock woven structures have larger deformation energy than behind the specimens and the concave surface of the composite
have orthogonal woven structures, as shown in Fig. 10(d). TTAIW beams was facing the camera. The transparent part is the area with-
has the largest composite-failure resistance along warp direction. out failures, and the opaque part (dark part) is the area with failures
9
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
10
Y. Liu, C. Huang, H. Xia et al. Materials & Design 212 (2021) 110267
failure map for warp-direction beams. In essence, for weft- Data availability: The raw/processed data required to reproduce
direction beams, failure mainly occurred at the center part of the these findings cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms
tested beams; for warp-direction beams, obvious propagating fail- part of an ongoing study.
ures occurred because of the binder-yarn load-transfer ability.
Yarn kink-band failure and fiber-breakage failure are likely for References
weft-direction beams, and surface-yarn tow-splitting failure is
likely for warp-direction beams. Moreover, the angle-interlock [1] K. Dransfield, C. Baillie, Y.-W. Mai, Improving the delamination resistance of
CFRP by stitching—a review, Compos. Sci. Technol. 50 (3) (1994) 305–317.
woven structures have slighter propagating weft-yarn debonding [2] A.P. Mouritz, B.N. Cox, A mechanistic interpretation of the comparative in-
failure compared with orthogonal-woven structures. plane mechanical properties of 3D woven, stitched and pinned composites,
Compos. A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 41 (6) (2010) 709–728.
[3] G. Dell’Anno, J.W.G. Treiber, I.K. Partridge, Manufacturing of composite parts
4. Conclusion reinforced through-thickness by tufting, Rob. Comput. Integr. Manuf. 37
(2016) 262–272.
[4] A.P. Mouritz, Review of z-pinned composite laminates, Compos. A Appl. Sci.
In this paper, a new weaving technology with modified heddle
Manuf. 38 (12) (2007) 2383–2397.
position system based on a self-built 3D weaving loom was [5] R. Kamiya, B.A. Cheeseman, P. Popper, T.-W. Chou, Some recent advances in the
designed and used to develop four typical 3D woven structures: fabrication and design of three-dimensional textile preforms: a review,
LLOW, TTOW, LLAIW, and TTAIW. The new weaving technology Compos. Sci. Technol. 60 (1) (2000) 33–47.
[6] X. Chen, Advances in 3D textiles, Elsevier (2015).
has great potential for manufacturing various 3D woven structures [7] X. Chen, L.W. Taylor, L.-J. Tsai, An overview on fabrication of three-dimensional
effectively and efficiently. VARTM was applied to fabricate the 3D woven textile preforms for composites, Text. Res. J. 81 (9) (2011) 932–944.
woven composites. The flexural properties were experimentally [8] M. Ansar, W. Xinwei, Z. Chouwei, Modeling strategies of 3D woven composites:
A review, Compos. Struct. 93 (8) (2011) 1947–1963.
characterized with a three-point bending test, and optical micro- [9] N. Khokar, 3D-weaving: theory and practice, J. Text. Inst. 92 (2) (2001) 193–
scopy was used to observe failures after bending. 207.
Based on the proposed weaving system, the angle-interlock [10] B.K. Behera, B.P. Dash, An experimental investigation into structure and
properties of 3D-woven aramid and PBO fabrics, The Journal of The Textile
woven structures have larger weft-yarn density (roughly 1.5 times Institute. 104 (12) (2013) 1337–1344.
larger than that of the orthogonal structures) and composite fiber [11] B. Zahid, X. Chen, Manufacturing of single-piece textile reinforced riot helmet
volume fraction (roughly 1.3 times larger than that of the orthog- shell from vacuum bagging, J. Compos. Mater. 47 (19) (2013) 2343–2351.
[12] El-Dessouky HM, Snape AE, Turner JL, Saleh MN, Tew H, Scaife RJ. 3D weaving
onal structures). The through-thickness woven structures have a for advanced composite manufacturing: from research to reality, in:
relative uniform yarn distribution than have the layer-to-layer Proceedings of the SAMPE Conference2017.
woven structures. TTAIW is the optimal design with a larger [13] G. Marsh, Aero engines lose weight thanks to composites, Reinf. Plast. 56 (6)
(2012) 32–35.
weft-yarn density as well as a uniform warp, weft, and binder yarn
[14] T. Huang, Y. Wang, G. Wang, Review of the mechanical properties of a 3D
distribution. A further modification is needed to achieve higher woven composite and its applications, Polymer-Plastics Technol. Eng. 57 (8)
weft-yarn density for orthogonal woven structures based on this (2018) 740–756.
weaving system. [15] C. Harvey, E. Holtzman, J. Ko, B. Hagan, R. Wu, S. Marschner, D. Kessler,
Weaving objects: spatial design and functionality of 3D-woven textiles,
Different mechanical behavior is shown along textile warp and Leonardo. 52 (4) (2019) 381–388.
weft directions for the designed 3D woven structures: weft- [16] M. Amirul, 3D woven fabrics, structures, and methods of manufacture. Woven
direction composite beams have a higher flexural modulus but Textiles: Elsevier; 2020. p. 329-91.
[17] M. Pankow, A. Salvi, A.M. Waas, C.F. Yen, S. Ghiorse, Resistance to delamination
lower failure strain than have warp-direction beams. Moreover, of 3D woven textile composites evaluated using End Notch Flexure (ENF) tests:
the angle-interlock woven structures have a larger flexural Experimental results, Compos. A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 42 (10) (2011) 1463–1476.
strength and modulus than that of orthogonal structures: 50% [18] P. Turner, T. Liu, X. Zeng, Collapse of 3D orthogonal woven carbon fibre
composites under in-plane tension/compression and out-of-plane bending,
and 40% larger, respectively. Woven structure or binder-yarn path Compos. Struct. 142 (2016) 286–297.
has an obvious influence on the composite failures. Warp-direction [19] R. Gerlach, C.R. Siviour, J. Wiegand, N. Petrinic, In-plane and through-thickness
beams have obvious propagating failure beyond beam center com- properties, failure modes, damage and delamination in 3D woven carbon fibre
composites subjected to impact loading, Compos. Sci. Technol. 72 (3) (2012)
pared with weft-direction beams due to the load-transfer ability of 397–411.
binder yarn which runs in the beam length direction. The angle- [20] B.K. Behera, B.P. Dash, Mechanical behavior of 3D woven composites, Mater.
interlock woven structures have slight weft-yarn debonding fail- Des. 67 (2015) 261–271.
[21] B.K. Behera, B.P. Dash, An experimental investigation into the mechanical
ures whereas the orthogonal woven structures have serious weft-
behaviour of 3D woven fabrics for structural composites, Fibers Polym. 15 (9)
yarn debonding failures in the propagating-failure area, mainly (2014) 1950–1955.
due to the internal geometrical differences of the two woven [22] D. Zhang, A.M. Waas, C.-F. Yen, Progressive damage and failure response of
groups. Proper structural design of 3D woven composite is key hybrid 3D textile composites subjected to flexural loading, part I:
Experimental studies, Int. J. Solids Struct. 75-76 (2015) 309–320.
issue to achieve better flexural performance. [23] R. Umer, H. Alhussein, J. Zhou, W.J. Cantwell, The mechanical properties of 3D
woven composites, J. Compos. Mater. 51 (12) (2017) 1703–1716.
Declaration of Competing Interest [24] D. Zhang, A. Waas, M. Pankow, C. Yen, S. Ghiorse, Flexural behavior of a layer-
to-layer orthogonal interlocked three-dimensional textile composite, J. Eng.
Mater. Technol. 134 (2012).
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan- [25] M. Mohamed, A. Bogdanovich, Comparative analysis of different 3D weaving
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared processes, machines and products, in: Proceedings of the 17TH international
conference on composite materials (ICCM-17)2009. p. 27-31.
to influence the work reported in this paper. [26] H.M. El-Dessouky, M.N. Saleh, in: Recent Developments in the Field of Carbon
Fibers, InTech, 2018, https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.74311.
Acknowledgement [27] ASTM S. Standard test methods for flexural properties of unreinforced and
reinforced plastics and electrical insulating materials. ASTM D790. Annual
book of ASTM Standards, 1997.
This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of [28] B.N. Cox, M.S. Dadkhah, W.L. Morris, J.G. Flintoff, Failure mechanisms of 3D
Science (JSPS KAKENHI 20H00288 and 26420721) and National woven composites in tension, compression, and bending, Acta Metall. Mater.
42 (12) (1994) 3967–3984.
Natural Science Foundation of China (No.52073259).
[29] G. Stegschuster, K. Pingkarawat, B. Wendland, A.P. Mouritz, Experimental
determination of the mode I delamination fracture and fatigue properties of
Compliance with ethical standards.
thin 3D woven composites, Compos. A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 84 (2016) 308–315.
Declaration of Competing Interest: The authors declare that they
have no conflict of interest.
11