A NOVEL TEXTILE PREFORMING AND JOININGTECHNIQUE BY THREAD-LESS NEEDLE STITCHING

摘要

A near net shaped textile preforming of fiber reinforcements is necessary for several theliquid closed molding process, which can manufacture the large scale of fiber-reinforced compositeproducts with high cost-effectiveness and productivity. In this study, a novel textile preformingtechnique was realized by diverting the punch needle embroidery, which is a unique stitching methodutilizing rarely in an apparel industry. Using this technique, the reinforcing fabrics can be joined byentangling some reinforcing fibers themselves without using any sewing threads. The main objectiveof this study is to verify the effectiveness on joining properties of nonwoven and woven cloth fabrics“needle-stitched” in various conditions. The effects of needle-stitching on interlaminar joiningproperties were showed by means of a single lap joint (SLJ) test and a double cantilever beam (DCB)test. The influences of damages on the fibers due to needle-stitching were also investigated by a tensiletest. Continuous I-shaped structural member and complicated-shaped turbo-fan preforming werefabricated as the practical examples for showing the possibility of 3 dimensional near net shapedtextile preforming.