Tradition VS. Innovation: How Carbon Fiber Multi-Axial Fabrics are Reinventing Structural Designs?

Carbon fiber multiaxial fabrics are widely used in many fields such as aerospace, wind power generation, automobile manufacturing, rail transportation, sporting goods, building reinforcement and medical equipment due to their light weight, high strength and excellent multidirectional mechanical properties, mainly used to manufacture lightweight, high-performance structural components to improve the durability and efficiency of the products, and at the same time, with the development of technology and the increase in environmental protection needs, its Meanwhile, with the development of technology and the increase of environmental protection demand, its application scope is still expanding.

Basic concept of multi-axial cloth

1.Carbon fiber multiaxial refers to a structure in which carbon fibers are arranged in layers in multiple directions or axial directions in a carbon fiber composite. This structure can obtain strength and rigidity against multiple directions, thus improving the overall performance of the composite material.

2.Carbon fiber multiaxial fabrics are fabrics made of carbon fiber filaments that are warp knitted by polyester yarns through multidirectional angles of 0°/+45°/-45°/90°.

0/90°	±45°

Carbon fiber multiaxial cloth adopts a multi-angle fiber layer structure of 0°, ±45°, 90°, etc., and achieves precise positioning through warp knitting technology. Each layer of fibers is arranged at a specific angle to form a biomimetic structure similar to a biological skeleton. This unique design enables the material to maintain high strength in different stress directions, overcoming the defects of traditional unidirectional cloth with obvious anisotropy.

Woven Fabric VS. Multi-Axial Fabric

【PLAIN】

(1) Excessive stability: Due to the short distance between interweaving points, plain weave fabrics have a high degree of stability, which makes them unsuitable for use in overlays with complex profiles, as they are not as pliable as some other fabrics.

(2)Stress concentration: Due to the excessive crimp (the angle formed by the fibers as they are woven) in the tow, the rough crimp creates a stress concentration that may weaken the part over time

【TWILL】

（1）Balance of flexibility and stability: Twill fabrics are not as good as plain fabrics although they have good flexibility and can form complex contours.

（2）Strength difference: Twill fabrics are less strong than plain fabrics, which may affect their use in some applications that require high tensile strength.

【Multi-Axial Fabrics】

As opposed to traditional woven fabrics:

（1）Multi-directional strength and stiffness: This is a significant improvement for plain fabrics, which are unsuitable for complex contour laminations due to excessive stability.

（2）Reduced fiber curvature: Warp knitting greatly increases the interlaminar shear strength, damage tolerance, impact toughness and post-impact compression properties of composites, which is more conducive to fiber strength.

Areas of application for multiaxial fabrics

【Aerospace：The F22 and the Boeing 787's "Slimming" Journey】

In aircraft wings, structural frames and other components, materials are required to be both lightweight and have multi-directional mechanical properties to withstand aerodynamic loads and multi-dimensional stresses. Carbon fiber multi-axial fabrics through the reasonable design of fiber layup, so that the component structure is more stable, strength and stiffness enhancement

Boeing 787 fuselage shell, fan blades, etc., carbon fiber multi-axial fabric greatly reduces the weight and enhances the resistance to traditional carbon fiber materials can not effectively withstand stress in multiple directions, which can easily lead to fatigue cracking durability.

【Railway transportation：CETROVO New Generation Carbon Fiber Metro Vehicles from CSR Qingdao Sifang Rolling Stock Co.】

Lighter body, more energy-efficient operation. The carbon fiber subway vehicle body weight reduction of 25%, the bogie frame (carbon fiber multi-axial) weight reduction of 50%, the entire vehicle weight reduction of about 11%, the operation of the energy consumption by 7%, each train can reduce carbon dioxide emissions of about 130 tons per year, equivalent to 101 acres of afforestation.

Lower life cycle operation and maintenance costs. Thanks to the carbon fiber lightweight materials and the application of new technologies, carbon fiber subway train wheel and rail wear is significantly reduced, significantly reducing the amount of vehicle and track maintenance, the whole life cycle maintenance costs reduced by 22%.

【Military industry：The Secret Weapon of the U.S. F22-Raptor Fighter Jet】

The U.S. F-22 "Raptor" fighter through the use of a variety of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials, including carbon fiber multi-axial warp knitting composite materials, the main wing, drogue tail, flat tail and fuselage skin and other parts of the dosage ratio as high as 35%, significantly reducing the weight of the fuselage, improving the flexibility of maneuvering and fatigue, corrosion resistance and other properties. The weight of the fuselage has been significantly reduced, the maneuverability and fatigue and corrosion resistance have been improved.

【Civilian sector：Next Generation Materials Revolution】

In the civil field, carbon fiber multiaxial fabrics have been widely used in many industries such as construction, medical care, transportation and sports equipment, and their products are deeply integrated into daily life. In the construction field, the material has been widely adopted for the repair and reinforcement of existing engineering structures due to its advantages of convenient construction and reliable effect, which has significantly boosted the expansion of its application in the construction industry. In the medical field, with the advancement of medical technology and the improvement of health awareness, the market demand for high-performance medical equipment continues to grow, and the high-load operation of the equipment puts forward stringent requirements for its durability. Carbon fiber materials have proven to exhibit excellent chemical inertness (corrosion resistance, acid and alkali resistance) and dimensional stability, making them an ideal material choice for medical device manufacturing. Transportation tools benefit from the lightweight and high-strength characteristics of multi-axial fabrics (excellent tensile and shear resistance), which significantly reduces the dead weight of the vehicle body and lowers energy consumption, while its excellent mechanical properties effectively enhance the passive safety of the vehicle. In the sporting goods industry, carbon fiber composites meet consumer demand for high-performance equipment and ensure product quality and durability with their light weight, high damping, excellent fatigue resistance and low strain characteristics.

Future outlook

With the continuous improvement of composite material application demand, carbon fiber multi-axial cloth will usher in a broader development space in many fields by virtue of its customizable lay-up angle, high design freedom and excellent mechanical properties. In the future, with the progress of automated manufacturing technology and new resin system, the production efficiency of multi-axial fabric will be further improved, the cost continues to be optimized, and promote its large-scale application in wind turbine blades, new energy vehicles, aerospace and other high-end fields. At the same time, the excellent impact resistance and anti-fatigue properties of multi-axial cloth will also play a greater value in the civil field of building reinforcement, sports equipment and medical equipment, to help the popularization of lightweight, high-performance products.