Braiding is a highly versatile and cost-effective method of producing structures that has been successfully used for numerous applications ranging from ropes, composites, biomedical uses, insulation to sports and recreation activities, and the list of applications of braided structures is ever-increasing. The prediction of tensile property is a pre-requisite for the success of deployment of braided structures in these applications. This paper reviews the key parameters that control the tensile properties of biaxial and triaxial braided structures along with the models developed for these braids by various researchers with different fields of interest. In general, the tensile properties of braided structures are strongly dependent upon their architecture and the kinematics and mechanics involved in the braid formation. Furthermore, various approaches and methodologies have also been presented for the tensile models of braids consisting of an elastic core and multi-layered structures.

Sutures are the materials primarily used for closing wounds, and their performance is significantly dependent on their mechanical characteristics. Thus, their tensile property is a key parameter responsible for the success of a suture. In this paper, a simple analytical tensile model of braided sutures has been developed based on braid geometry, braid kinematics, and constituent monofilament properties. The model has accounted for the changes in the braid geometry, including braid angle, diameter, and Poisson’s ratio. The kinematics of the braided suture is analyzed pertaining to monofilament locking or jamming in the braid. The model of jamming state of monofilaments has been presented, and both braid angle and diameter are found to be critical design parameters. The experimental results have been compared to the theoretical stress–strain curves of braided sutures, and an excellent agreement has been observed between them.

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Circular braiding has been successfully adapted for producing near-net shape structures for advanced fiber-reinforced composites. Net-shape manufacturing is significantly important for fabricating complex three-dimensional (3D) preforms. Geometrical modeling of braid patterns on 3D preforms plays a key role in determining their mechanical behavior. In this research work, the geometrical models of strand trajectory on the surface of cylindrical and conical mandrels with diamond, regular and triaxial braid patterns have been developed. These geometrical models of strand profiles were then simulated using Virtual Reality Modeling Language. Subsequently, the strands on complex-shaped mandrels, including ‘bottle’ and ‘funnel’, were simulated and accordingly, the braid angles have been predicted and compared with the experimental results. A virtual experiment was also conducted to compare the trajectory of the strands having constant and varying braid angles on the surface of conical mandrels.

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