New Directions in Braiding

Abstract

It is the intent of this manuscript to provide a general treatment of braiding: past, present, and future. A history and evolution of braiding, braiding machinery, and related engineering developments is provided with emphasis on the design, manufacture, and analysis of braided fabrics and composites. Some recent developments are briefly described, including: 1. a composite braider with axial yarns which interlace with the helicals, and in which the helical yarns do not interlace with each other-a machine now under commercial development, 2. a new braided structure, called the true triaxial braid, produced by the new machine or by proper carrier loading on a conventional Maypole braider; and 3. a computer controlled take-up system using image analysis to monitor and control braid formation. Original work ongoing at Auburn University is described and involves Jacquard lace braids with open structures for use in composites, computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), and analysis of ordinary and lace braids for composite applications. This paper is an expanded version of an invited presentation under the title "New Directions in Braiding" at a Fiber Society presentation in Bursa, Turkey, in the spring of 2010 [1]. Historical Context Braiding has been an important process throughout history of transforming fibers to more useful forms. It is arguably the first textile process, practiced by ancient civilizations [3]. Smaller, natural-fiber strands were braided in order to produce larger, stronger structures such as rope. Several online encyclopedias and other sources place the origins of braided rope at more than 17,000 years ago [4]. Ancient Chinese and Japanese documents record that braiding was in use before 4,000 BC [5-6]. Braiding in the context of ancient history is simply considered the oblique interlacing of three or more strands [6-7]. The original braiding machine predates the Industrial Revolution [8]. As mankind became more sophisticated, so did the methods of producing textiles, including braids. A modern definition of braiding is given by the German Industrial Standard DIN 60000 as "two or three-dimensional fabrics with even thread density

The tensile behaviour of biaxial and triaxial braided fabrics

“…Axial yarns provide a more important dimensional stability for the triaxial braids. The braiding angle (denoted a) is classically linked [13,20,68,73] to process parameters for example, by the relation (1):…”

“…In this process a braiding loom deposits continuous, intertwined fibre tows to create a desired reinforcing braid architecture [6] and offers several advantages like control over the fibre deposition angle and fast fibre deposition rate [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. At a minimal level, a braid (denoted biaxial braid) is constituted with two groups of yarns intertwined.…”

Micro-computed tomography analysis of tubular braided composites

“…Two dimensional (2D) tubular braided composites comprise of woven fibers impregnated within a resin matrix [1,2]. Tubular braided composites (TBC's) are manufactured by weaving fibers onto a mandrel; the fibers are then saturated with resin to produce a final product [1].…”

Braiding ultrathin layer for insulation of superconducting Rutherford cables

“…Current Total cross sectional area of cable and insulation A 1 In equation 1, engineering current density is inversely proportional to the total cross sectional area hence a thin layer of insulation improves the current density as presented by Blackburn et al 22 .…”