An investigation on the mechanical behavior of 3D warp interlock carbon fabrics

© 2019 by DEStech Publications, Inc. and American Society for Composites. All rights reserved.There is a challenge on the use of stiffer carbon yarns into fabric structures to be used as fibrous reinforcement of composite material and their capacity to be draped inside the mold. Thus, one of the solution to cope with this issue lies in the use of 3D warp interlock fabrics. However, it is a challenge to choose the right 3D warp interlock architecture that has optimal performance for the requested application. The aim of this research is filling this gap and explores the potential properties of the 3D warp interlock fabric as a function of its architecture and geometrical properties. The 3D warp interlock carbon fabrics were produced and their tensile properties were investigated in the research. All the fabrics were produced on the same dobby loom with same carbon yarn (6K - 400 Tex) and with similar warp and weft densities. They were differentiated by binding warp yarn parameters, weave diagram pattern and including or not stuffer warp yarns in the woven structure. The carbon yarn strength was controlled at the different fabrication scales from bobbin to fabric in order to track the effect of the weaving process on the yarn strength. No significant loss in the carbon strength is observed. 3D warp interlock fabrics are manufactured with different weave pattern and other weaving parameters. The tensile behavior of these fabrics are evaluated and analyzed in light of the measured shrinkage of the constituting yarns. High impact for the yarn shrinkage value is revealed resulting in a higher breaking strain for the fabric comparing to the breaking strain of the carbon yarn (less than 1 %)