Albany Engineered Composites, Inc.

Steve Biddle

Aaron R Tomich

Jonathan Goering

Donald Rose

Preforms for use in fiber-reinforced composites, fiber-reinforced composites, and methods for making thereof are disclosed. One method includes interweaving a plurality of warp yarns with a single weft yarn so as to form a tubular woven structure with a central axis. The preform can be woven using an endless or tubular weaving technique, and can be woven so as to have two or more diameters along a length thereof. The preform can include one or more layers of a fabric formed on or attached to one or both surfaces of the tubular woven structure. The end structure can be a part of a window frame, a wheel rim, or a combustor in a jet engine.

Woven preforms, fiber reinforced composites, and methods of making thereof

A tubular structure which includes a plurality of axial sites in circular relation to one another and a plurality of bias sites that interconnect the axial sites to form the tubular structure. The tubular structure's axial sites have a greater diameter than the structure's bias sites.

Conformable braid

The present invention relates to multidirectionally reinforced fiber preforms that conform easily to complex curvatures, such as, composite turbine fan cases, jet engine containment rings, aircraft fuselage frames, aircraft window frames, and flanged rings for attaching nacelles to aircraft engines. The present invention provides multidirectionally reinforced shape woven preforms with improved strength for composite structures that are axisymmetric as well as non-axisymmetric in nature. The invention is a preform used to reinforce a composite structure which includes a contour woven fabric portion, bi-axially braided, tri-axially braided or bias fabric portion, and/or a polar woven fabric portion, and a method of making thereof. The preform may optionally include a three-dimensionally woven portion. The combination of different forms of fabrics allows the preform to be produced without cutting and darting of the individual plies. Eliminating these cuts and darts improves the strength and performance of the resulting structure.

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Alton, NH, United States of America

Steve Biddle