From a Virtual Textile to a Virtual Woven Composite

Abstract

The future of fibre-reinforced composites, in general, and textile composites in particular, seems bright. Four industrial branches -aeronautic, automotive, sporting goods and wind energy -are now major users of composites, and their demands will shape composite material science for decades ahead.With the Airbus-380, Airbus-350 and Boeing-787 flying, and being produced by the hundreds, the aeronautics industry has a high demand for further materials, manufacturing and quality control improvement. All leading car manufacturers have developed concept solutions of composite cars, with several of them already on the roads or expected there shortly. The specific price requirements and recyclability regulations of the car industry shape the research directions in somewhat different ways than in aeronautics. The demands of wind energy industry for composites are extreme, both in production volumes and in material performance. Turbine blades of 90 metres, composed fully of composite materials need to run for 25 years in extreme, off-shore conditions at the same time, meeting the competitive cost limits of the energy market. And finally, the sporting goods industry has become almost a "traditional" user of composites, both because they allow for weight reduction and hence reduce the energy consumption by the athletes (in cycling . . . ) and they improve the control and efficiency (in skiing, tennis . . . ). Sporting goods have always been, and will remain, an ideal testing ground for new composites concepts, because the consumer demands them and the developers are not hindered by too many regulations. 109Woven Composites Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com by UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM on 08/21/15. For personal use only.