Processing of Polymers and Composites

Lecture 21 – 05/03/2020

Dr S. Gowthaman
Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing Kancheepuram
Chennai - 600127
Woven Fabrics
• Woven fabrics are produced by the interlacing of warp (0°) fibers and weft (90°)
fibers in a regular pattern or weave style.
• The fabric's integrity is maintained by the mechanical interlocking of the fibers.
• Drape (the ability of a fabric to conform to a complex surface), surface
smoothness and stability of a fabric are controlled primarily by the weave style.
• The longitudinal direction of the fabric is called warp and the transverse
direction weft or fill.
Plain Weave
• Each warp fibre passes alternately under and over each weft fibre.
• The fabric is symmetrical, with good dimensional stability and reasonable porosity.
• However, it is the most difficult of the weaves to drape, and the high level of fibre
crimp imparts relatively low mechanical properties compared with the other weave
styles.
(measure of the yam waviness)
Twill Weave
• Twill is done by passing the weft thread over one or more warp threads and then
under two or more warp threads and so on
• Superior wet out and drape is seen in the twill weave over the plain weave with
only a small reduction in stability. With reduced crimp, the fabric also has a
smoother surface and slightly higher mechanical properties.

2/2 Twill
Satin Weave
• This weave is achieved by ‘floating’ the warp or weft yarn over three or more of the opposite yarn. The
floating yarn is then passed under one of the opposite yarn before repeating the process again.
• Satin weaves are very flat, have good wet out and a high degree of drape. The low crimp gives good
mechanical properties. However, stability of this fabric is poor.
• Also, asymmetry needs to be considered. The asymmetry causes one face of the fabric to have fibre
running predominantly in the warp direction while the other face has fibres running predominantly in
the weft direction.

Warp floating over 4 wefts Weft floating over 4 warps Weft floating over 7 warps
Weft floating over 3 warps

Five-harness
Eight-harness
 Basket Weave Leno Weave
• Basket weave is fundamentally the same as plain Leno weave is a weave in which two
weave except that two or more warp fibres warp yarns twist and grip tightly around
alternately interlace with two or more weft fibres. the weft yarns.

• An arrangement of two warps crossing two wefts

is designated 2x2 basket, but the arrangement of
fibre need not be symmetrical. Therefore it is
possible to have 8x2, 5x4, etc.
• Basket weave is flatter, and, through less crimp,
stronger than a plain weave, but less stable.
Weave Styles - Comparison of
Properties
Non Woven Fabrics (Non Crimp Fabrics)

In non crimp fabrics, yarns are placed parallel

to each other and then stitched together using
polyester thread.

Weft unidirectional fabrics

Warp unidirectional fabrics

Non woven fabrics (stitched)

Glass
Carbon Glass

Woven fabrics

Plain weave glass Carbon 5 HS

Carbon 2/2 Twill
Non Woven Fabrics (Non Crimp Fabrics)
• Noncrimp fabrics offer greater flexibility compared to woven fabrics. For example, fibers can
be laid at almost any angle from 0° to 90°, and then stitched to make multiaxial stitched plies,
whereas woven fabrics are made from rovings mostly on the 0° and 90° axes.

• Noncrimp fabrics offer greater strength because fibers remain straight; whereas in woven
fabrics, fibers bend over each other.

• To make noncrimp glass fabrics, input rovings are selected by yield numbers in combinations
of 113, 218, 450, 675, 1200, and 1800 yd/lb. A larger yield number denotes a finer roving and,
therefore, more yards are required to achieve a given weight.

• The selection of yield number is determined by the physical, mechanical, and aesthetic
requirements of the laminate. The finer filaments mean higher fiber content and less resin.
This improves strength and can reduce weight.
Geometric and Physical Definitions
Orthotropic materials - materials that have three mutually perpendicular planes of symmetry
The lamina is an orthotropic material with principal
material axes in the direction of the fibers
(longitudinal), normal to the fibers in the plane of the
lamina (in-plane transverse), and normal to the plane of
the lamina.
These principal axes are designated as 1, 2, and 3,
respectively.
1-2 plane
2-3 plane
3-1 plane
• An orthotropic material is called transversely isotropic when one
of its principal planes is a plane of isotropy, that is, at every point
there is a plane on which the mechanical properties are the same
in all directions.
• Many unidirectional composites can be considered transversely
isotropic, with the 2-3 plane (normal to the fibers) as the plane of
isotropy.
 • A laminate is made up of two or more laminae or plies
Laminate stacked together at various orientations.

• The laminae (or plies, or layers) can be of various

thicknesses and consist of different materials.

• Since the orientation of the principal material axes varies

from ply to ply, it is more convenient to analyze laminates
using a common fixed system or coordinates (x, y , z) as
shown.

• The orientation of a given ply is given by the angle between

the reference x-axis and the major principal material axis
(fiber orientation or warp direction) of the ply, measured in
a counterclockwise direction on the x-y plane.

• Composite laminates containing plies of two or more different types of materials are called hybrid composites, and
more specifically interply hybrid composites. For example, a composite laminate may be made up of glass/epoxy,
carbon/epoxy and armid/ epoxy layers stacked together in a specified sequence.
• In some cases it may be advantageous to intermingle different types of fibers, such as glass and carbon or aramid
and carbon, within the same ply. Such composites are called intraply hybrid composites.
• Of course one may combine intraply hybrid layers with other layers to form an intraply / interply hybrid composite.
Composite Configurations
• The configuration indicating the ply composition and the exact location or sequence of the various
plies, is called the stacking sequence.
• Following are some examples of laminate designations

In the case of the hybrid laminate, superscripts

K, C, and G denote Kevlar (aramid), carbon
(graphite), and glass fibers, respectively.
Basic Lamina Properties
Basic Lamina Properties
Degrees of Anisotropy
Density of Composite
(Eq. 1) (Eq. 2)

Since Since w =  v

Eq. 1 can be written as, Eq. 2 can be written as,

Fiber Volume and Weight Fraction of Composite

= (Weight fraction in terms of volume fraction)

(Volume fraction in terms of

=
weight fraction)

Theoretically
possible, but
practically
impossible

Typical practical values:

Laminate Thickness
The thickness of a composite laminate depends on the amount of reinforcement and the relative amount
of resin which has been included.
Fiber Volume Fraction is thus Inversely
Proportional to Laminate Thickness.

Areal weight

Number
of layers