Three‐dimensionally woven and braided composites. II: An experimental characterization

Abstract The results of an experimental characterization of the elastic and failure behavior of several 3‐D textile composites under tension, compression, shear, and bending loads are reported in this paper. Composites reinforced with several textile preforms comprising of layer‐to‐layer weaves, through‐the‐thickness weaves, and four‐step circular braids were characterized. The preform architectures examined included variations in tow size, pitch for the woven composites, and braid angle in the braided composites. The experimental methods, stress‐strain relationships and descriptions of the failure modes of the test specimens are described. Correlations of the predictions from a model described in the companion paper with the experimental results are also presented.