A NOVEL TEXTILE PREFORMING AND JOINING TECHNIQUE BY THREAD-LESS NEEDLE STITCHING

摘要

A near net shaped textile preforming of fiber reinforcements is necessary for several the liquid closed molding process, which can manufacture the large scale of fiber-reinforced composite products with high cost-effectiveness and productivity. In this study, a novel textile preforming technique was realized by diverting the punch needle embroidery, which is a unique stitching method utilizing rarely in an apparel industry. Using this technique, the reinforcing fabrics can be joined by entangling some reinforcing fibers themselves without using any sewing threads. The main objective of 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 joining properties 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 tensile test. Continuous I-shaped structural member and complicated-shaped turbo-fan preforming were fabricated as the practical examples for showing the possibility of 3 dimensional near net shaped textile preforming.