Effect of Weaving on the Tensile Properties of Carbon Fibre Tows and Woven Composites

Tension tests were conducted on (consolidated) tow and woven carbon/epoxy composites in an attempt to quantify the effect of fibre damage induced during weaving on the mechanical performance of fibre tows and their corresponding composites. Two commercially-available carbon fibres were considered. The tension tests were carried out on composites with fibre tows sampled from different locations in the loom setup. These included samples from the tensioning, heddles and reed regions of loom setup. In addition, samples were taken from the external (or, surface) and internal warp layers of the woven preforms. The present work has shown that the tensile properties of fibre composites are detrimentally affected only if the fibres suffer sufficiently large amounts of damage during the weaving process. Compared with unidirectional, non-woven fibre tow composites, further deterioration in properties is expected in multilayer woven composites due to the inevitable presence of fibre crimping.