Characterization of microstructure in stitched unidirectional composite laminates

The internal geometry of stitched uniaxial multiply carbon-fiber preforms is investigated experimentally. The microstructure is parameterized by such four introduced parameters as distortion length, distortion width, minor axis and major axis. The quantificational measurements are performed for these parameters under different stitch densities and different stitch threads. A theoretical model, called fiber distortion model, is developed to describe the spatial distribution of in-plane fiber misalignment angle and inhomogeneous fiber volume fraction induced by stitching.