Page 120 - 3D Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites
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30 Woven Composites 109
consolidation when excessive overpressure can squash the preform and thereby
misalign the z-binders. Figure 5.5 illustrates the distortion to a z-binder yarn in a 3D
orthogonal composite, resulting in a quasi-sine-wave path. Studies by Callus et al.
(1999) and Leong et al. (2000) report misalignment angles for z-binder yarns of up to
-45" from the square-wave profile expected in 3D orthogonal composites.
Figure 5.1 Broken fibres caused by 3D weaving.
Figure 5.2 Fragments of broken glass fibres caused by 3D weaving.
