Composites Science and Technology 56 (1996) 381-386

@ 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Limited

Printed in Northern Ireland. All rights reserved
ELSEVIER 0266-3538(95)00135-2 0266-3538/96/$15.00

MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITES BASED

ON VARIOUS THREE-DIMENSIONAL WOVEN-FIBRE
PREFORMS

J. Brandt,” K. Drechslef & F.-J. Arendtsb*

” Messerschmitt-Biilkow-Blohm GmbH, Central Laboratories, Munich, Germany
h Institute for Aircraft Design, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 31, 7000 Stuttgart 80, Germany

Abstract laminate, composites with optimum properties with

Over the last ten years several textile technologies have regard to the loading requirements can be designed.
been developed in order to manufacture textile However, the properties in the thickness direction of
preforms for three-dimensionally reinforced polymer-, these composites are very poor and result in
ceramic- and metal-matrix composites. The aim was, delaminations inside the composite, as a consequence
on the one hand, to improve the mechanical of impact loads, for example. This low damage
performance, above all the damage tolerance and, on tolerance can be significantly improved by a 3D fibre
the other hand, to decrease manual work during the reinforcement. However, the placement of fibres in
manufacturing process compared to two-dimensional the thickness direction reduces the in-plane fiber
laminates. volume fraction and consequently the respective
The scope of this paper is to review the mechanical planar properties. Therefore, detailed knowledge of
performance of various three-dimensional (30) woven the influence of 3D fibre content and geometry is of
composites (monolithic and sandwich) by comparison vital importance to achieve optimum design of
of in-plane properties (stiffness and strength), damage high-performance, damage-tolerant composite
tolerance, energy absorption capability and fracture structures.
mechanical properties. In the first part of this paper is In the following, some results of a parametric study
demonstrated the general influence of the 30 are summarized, showing the general influence of the
reinforcement on mechanical performance. Because of z fibre proportion on the tensile strength (Fig. l), on
the unique interlaminar failure behaviour, state-of-the- the compression strength (Fig. 2) and on the
art testing methods need to be reviewed critically: in interlaminar shear strength (Fig. 3) of a glass-
order to determine the interlaminar shear strength a fibre/epoxy-resin composite. The 3D weaving used is
new testing method seems to be necessary. In the referred to as ‘weaving type 1’ in the following. In this
second part of the paper, various monolithic 3D fabric, which is woven on a modified standard
composites manufactured by using different weaving production loom with a relatively high production
types are compared, while in the third part the speed, the z fibres run straight through the whole fibre
mechanical performance of a special class of 30 structure, binding the different two-dimensional (2D)
weavings, the integrally woven sandwich structures, weaving layers together. The thickness of the
will be discussed. specimen was approximately 3 mm, and the fibre
volume fraction was adjusted in a vacuum injection
Keywords: mechanical perfomance, woven-fibre pre- process to approximately 0.5.
forms, 3D woven composites The results show that the tensile properties decrease
significantly with increasing proportion of fibres in the
z direction. Compared to the 2D baseline material,
1 EFFECTS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL (3D) the 3D laminates having 8% z fibres show a 20%
REINFORCEMENT ON THE MECHANICAL lower tensile strength in the weft direction. In the
PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITES warp direction the decrease is even higher because
some of the weft fibres are used for the z direction
In addition to the type of fibre and matrix, reinforcing
reinforcement. Different behaviour occurred in
fibre architecture is the main factor determining the
compression tests. It seems that the compression
mechanical performance of a composite. By proper
strength is not affected negatively by a low z fibre
choice of the fibre orientations of the single layers of a
proportion. For the material tested, the highest
compression strength was reached in the case of 3D
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. specimens having 4% fibres in the thickness direction.
381
382 J. Brand& K. Drechsler. F.-J. Arendts

--
2% 4% 6% 8% 1 8.82 4.3% 2.2% 0.0%
30 2D
.?-fibre-share

Fig. 1. The influence of z fibre share on the tensile strength. Fig. 3. The influence of z fibre share, +,, on the ILS.
The top line represents the mixture rule.

An important test for characterizing the fracture

A surprising result is that no significant influence of
the proportion of z fibres on the interlaminar shear
strength (ILS) data could be found. The data
evaluated show that ILS values are, above all,
dominated by the matrix type, the interface and the
consolidation quality. However, the interlaminar
failure behaviour of 3D composites shows quite
different features. For example, it is not possible to
generate interlaminar failure by using the short-beam
bending test. To initiate this type of failure a new
testing method with a ‘cut shear’ fixture, was
developed. The test rig and the testing principle are
illustrated in Fig. 4.
To improve the ILS data it is necessary that the z
fibres take over shear loads initiated under the testing
conditions. This can only be achieved by specific z
fibre architectures, for example by so-called ‘3-X’ or
‘interlock’ weaves. The basic construction of these
fibre structures is shown in Fig. 5. This diagram also
shows the ILS of the respective composites (carbon-
fibre/epoxy). Owing to the fibre curvature of the
interlock structure, slight improvement of the ILS
values was possible. A tremendous improvement is
achieved by the shear-load carrying capability of the
3-X composite.
400
_ _..
380
800
280
200
180
100
80
0 ..-._
4%. - 8.8% 4.ss 2.2%
Fig. 2. The intluencesDof z fibre share,2D&, on the
compression strength.
mechanics properties is the peel test. In this test the
high potential of the 3D reinforcement to improve the
interlaminar performance can be demonstrated
impressively. Figure 6 shows the load/notch-length
diagram recorded during a peel test on a 2D and a
typical 3D composite. As shown, the load level
necessary to generate a notch growth in the 3D
composite is approximately ten times higher as a
consequence of the presence of the z fibres. The notch
stopping mechanism is clearly demonstrated in Fig. 7.
These improved fracture mechanics properties
result in important advantages with regard to energy
absorption capability and damage tolerance. Figure 8
shows the behaviour of a 2D and a 3D woven
composite during a through-penetration test. Under
comparable test conditions and specimen thicknesses,
the 3D material absorbs approximately 2.5 times more
energy than the 2D laminate. The respective
specimens after the test are shown in Fig. 9. It is
obvious that the z fibres have an important effect on
the prevention of delamination.
This reduced sensitivity to delamination also leads
to an improvement in compression-after-impact (CAI)
performance. The CA1 test is one of the most
important tests for characterizing the damage
tolerance of composites. In Fig. 10 the compression
strengths after impact of 2D and 3D composites
involving thermoset (epoxy) and thermoplastic
(PEEK) matrices are compared. The diagram shows
/
that the 3D reinforcement results in a significant
improvement in compression strength after impact.
The best performance was observed in the case of the
3D thermoplastic material, which was manufactured
by using the hybrid yarn technique having a fibre
volume fraction of 0.5 and a z fibre share of
approximately 5 %. A compression failure strain of
nearly 1% after an impact of 6.7 J/mm has been
reached with this material.
0.0% More details about the weaves used, the manufac-
turing techniques, the testing procedures and the
characteristic data can be found elsewhere.rd
 Mechanical performance of composites 383

Fig. 4. Testing fixture of the ILS ‘cut-shear’ test. The vertical arrow denotes the direction of the shearing action.

2 MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF
COMPOSITES BASED ON VARIOUS 3D
WEAVE TYPES
The experimental investigation into the mechanical
performance of composites having different 3D weave

140

120

-.-.__._._.._..-._,____..
--_..__.______
100

-. - __.....
_..__.
-.-
90

10 Fig. 7. Crack’zrowth in 2D a,nd 3D com&:ites during pe:el

tests.
40

20

0
Interlock

........
........ ........
........
........ !G%%
Fig. 5. ILS of 3D composites with various z fibre
architecture.

0.0 0.80 1.60 2.40 3.20 4.00

5 10 16 20 25 t [msl
Notch Length (mm)
Fig. 8. Energy absorption capability of 2D and 3D
composites as well as knitting in a through-penetration test
Fig. 6. Comparison of peel strength of 2D and 3D carried out under drop-weight impact conditions. The
composites. energy level was 100 J and the impact speed was 4 ms-‘.
384 J. Brandt. K. Drechsler, F.-J. Arendts

looms featuring differing weaving technologies. In all

cases the same carbon-fibre type (HT) and the same
type of epoxy resin have been used. Furthermore, a
comparable z fibre share (approximately 6%) has
been used.
All 3D materials show a much better performance
as regards all data of relevance to the damage
tolerance behaviour compared to 2D reinforced
composites. The most surprising fact is that laminates
based on weave type 2 are superior to the 2D baseline
material, even in respect of tensile properties.

Fig. 9. Comparison of 2D and 3D composites after

through-penetration tests.

types has shown that, besides fibre architecture and z

fibre share, the weaving process used has a
tremendous influence on composite properties. In
Table 1, composites based on three different 3D
weave types are compared. While type 1 is a weave
produced on a modified production loom allowing a
high manufacturing speed, type 2 and type 3 represent
two different fabrics manufactured on laboratory-scale

00 SO PO 30
Epoxy-Mmtrlx PEEK-M&lx

Fig. 10. Compression strength after impact of 2D and 3D Fig. 11. Integrally woven sandwich structures with various z
composites with thermoset and thermoplastic matrices. fibre architecture.

Table 1. Mechanical performance of composites based on various 3D weave types in experimental materials from
Vorwerk and NLSM

2D 3D weave type 1 3D weave type 2 3D weave type 3

Warp Weft Warp Weft Warp Weft Warp Weft

Tensile strength (MPa) 61.5 620 410 416 768 722 541 494
Tensile modulus (GPa) 65 58 48 51 56 60 44 59
ILSS (SS) (MPa) 5:: 42 41 41 42 39 58 60
Compressive strength (MPa) 506 285 373 567 501 547 501
CA1 3.3 J/mm (MPa) 247 287 - 350 - - -
CA1 6.7 J/mm (MPa) 168 219 - 301 - 214
Energy absorption (J) 30 46 81 *
Fibre volume fraction 0.50 0.50 0.56 0.45
 Mechanical performance of composites 385

This result indicates that 3D composites can feature density can be adjusted from 40 to 150 kg mP3. Even
very attractive properties if the textile process is lighter structures are possible if carbon or aramid
optimized with regard to fibre damage, fibre curvature fibres are used.
and fibre orientation. In Fig. 12, the evaluated range of compression and
shear strength values of these new materials is shown
as a function of the core density in comparison to
3 PERFORMANCE OF INTEGRALLY WOVEN typical foam and honeycomb core sandwich structures.
SANDWICH STRUCTURES It is shown that with regard to mechanical
Another interesting class of 3D weaves are the performance, 3D sandwich structures can compete
integrally woven sandwich structures. In the case of with state-of-the-art structures. Again, a special
these fabrics two woven skin layers are connected feature is the high damage tolerance, because
together by a z directional thread system. After debonding of the skins from the core, caused, for
impregnation, which can easily be performed for example, by impact loads, is absolutely impossible.
example by a hand lamination process, these ‘pile’ The unique failure behaviour in comparison to
fibres form the sandwich core, while the woven skin conventional sandwich structures having the core and
layers form the sandwich skins. This one-step the skins bonded together by an adhesive is
manufacturing process is very simple and can be easily demonstrated in Fig. 13, showing sandwich specimens
automated for a production process. loaded under four-point bending conditions.
The mechanical performance of the sandwich
structures can be widely adapted to the respective
requirements through the choice of the z fibre
architecture and the z fibre density. Some examples of
the fibre structure are shown in Fig. 11. Up to now, a
maximum sandwich height of approximately 18 mm
has been possible. By the use of glass fibres the core

Compression Strength

integrally woven

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 60 QO 100 110 120

Denslty [Kg/m31

Shear Strength
honeycomb core

3.0

2.5

2.0
m
1.5
g
1.0

0.5

0.0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Denslty [Kglm”]

Fig. 12. Range of compression and shear strength of various foam core
integrally woven sandwich structures. Fig. 13. Bending failure of various sandwich structures.
386 J. Brandt, K. Drechsler, F.-J. Arendts

More details on the manufacturing techniques used performance and cost aspects are balanced against
for these structures and the mechanical performance each other.
are described elsewhere.7,8
REFERENCES
1. Arendts, F.-J., Brandt, J. & Drechsler, K., The
4 CONCLUSIONS application of 3D reinforced fibre preforms to improve
the properties of composites. Znt. SAMPE Conf, Reno,
1989.
2. Brandt, J., Drechsler, K. & Preller, Manufacturing and
An experimental study has been performed in order mechanical properties of 3D fibre reinforced composites.
to evaluate the mechanical performance of various 3D SAMPE European Conf., Birmingham, 1989.
woven composites and obtain a better understanding 3. Brand& J., Drechsler, K. & Meistring, The application of
of the factors influencing the properties of these new 3D fibre preforms for aerospace composite structures.
ESAIESTEC Symp., Noordwijk, 1990.
materials.
4. Arendts, F.-J., Brandt, J. & Drechsler, K., Approaches
It has been clearly demonstrated that composites for improving the damage tolerance of composite
with 3D woven-fibre reinforcement exhibit a high structures, ECCM 4, Stuttgart, 1990.
potential for improving high-performance composite 5. Brandt, J., Drechsler, K. & Richter, The application of
structures with regard to damage tolerance and energy 2D and 3D woven thermoplastic fibre preforms for
absorption capability. The mechanical performance of aerospace components. Znt. SAMPE ConjI, San Diego,
1991.
these materials is strongly influenced by the share and 6. Brandt, J., Drechsler, K., Mohamed & Gu, P.,
architecture of the through-the-thickness fibre system. Manufacturing and performance of carbon/epoxy 3D
However, the weaving technique used, which in- woven composites. Znt. SAMPE ConjI, Anaheim, 1992.
fluences, for example, fibre damage and fibre 7. Arendts, F.-J., Brandt, J. & Drechsler, K., Integrally
curvature, is also of decisive influence for the woven sandwich structures. ECCM 3, Bordeaux, 1989.
8. Brandt, J., Drechsler, K. & Preller, Manufacturing and
mechanical properties. mechanical properties of new textile fibre preforms for
Consequently, the use of a composite based on 3D structural sandwich applications. FZTA T Con&, Lyon,
woven preforms will only be of benefit if the overall 1989.