Fabric Types

In polymeric composite terms, a fabric is defined as a manufactured assembly of long fibres of carbon, aramid or glass, or a combination of these, to produce a flat sheet of one or more layers of fibres. These layers are held together either by mechanical interlocking of the fibres themselves or with a secondary material to bind these fibres together and hold them in place, giving the assembly sufficient integrity to be handled.

Fabric types are categorised by the orientation of the fibres used, and by the various construction methods used to hold the fibres together.

The four main fibre orientation categories are: Unidirectional, Woven, Multiaxial, and Other/random. These are described in the following pages.

David Cripps, Gurit