Internal geometry evaluation of non-crimp 3D orthogonal woven carbon fabric composite

Measurements of the internal geometry of a carbon fiber non-crimp 3D orthogonal woven composite are presented, including: waviness of the yarns, cross sections of the yarns, dimensions of the yarn cross sections, and local fiber volume fraction. The measured waviness of warp and fill yarns are well below 0.1%, which shows that the fabric termed here “non-crimp” has nearly straight in-plane fibers as-produced, and this feature is maintained after going through all steps of fabric handling and composite manufacturing. The variability of dimensions of the yarns is in the range of 4–8% for warp and fill directions, while the variability of the yarn spacing is in the range of 3–4%. These variability parameters are lower than respective ranges of variability of the yarn waviness and the cross-sectional dimensions in typical carbon 2D weave and 3D interlock weave composites, which are also illustrated in this work for comparison.