DEVELOPMENT OF 3-D HEMISPHERICAL BIAXIAL WEFT-KNITTED THERMOSET COMPOSITES

The present work concentrates on the development of 3-D hemispherical biaxial weft-knitted (BWK) thermoset composites. The objective is to improve the quality of the 3-D composites with BWK preform. Two kinds of the 3-D hemispherical BWK composites with the flat surfaced and 3-D dome shaped biaxial weft-knitted preforms were produced by hand lay-up method. The quantitative analysis of wrinkles was done by measuring the locking angles between the fiber bundles in the composites. Small numbers of wrinkle heights (1 height/1 cm) were observed on the flange surface of the 3-D hemispherical BWK composite with the dome shaped preform compared to the 3-D hemispherical BWK composite with the flat surfaced preform (10 heights/1 cm).