Page 49 - 3D Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites

38 30 Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites

weights that can be obtained for each layer of orientated yarn. Also current production
machines are only capable of producing fabric with a maximum of 8 layers and the 0"
yarns must be placed on an outer layer. However, large widths of fabric can be
produced, up to 2.5 m for LIBA machines, and the rate of production is fast, up to 45
linear metredhour (Kamiya et al., 2000). This makes this production technique highly
suited for large volume production.

Figure 2.28 a) Schematic of the LIBA process for manufacturing noncrimp fabric. 1 =
creel system; 2 = placement heads; 3 = needles, 4 = chopper system; 5 = roll carriers; 6
= beam to feed 0" fibres; 7 = warp knitting machine. b) An example of the type of fabric
that can be produced with this process (courtesy of LIBA-Maschinenfabrik GmbH)