Ok, so I have been loving our braided fabrics that are advertised as having higher strength than weaves because of less crimping/no twisting. However I have been ignoring a voice in the back of my head that says that there is no difference between a “flat biax braid” and 2x2 twill. I hope I am wrong as I like to use these as a final structural layer to avoid needing a cosmetic layer. Composites One has a good explanation that I dont think answers my question: http://www.compositesone.com/basics.htm
I think it just clicked…both have equal amounts of crimping but braids have no twisting because they use roving (tow) instead of yarns. So “flat biax braid” would be the same as “2x2 twill woven roving”…if the woven roving was ever tight/high quality. Right, wrong, misunderstood?
I understand braid’s main advantage over weave to be less strength reduction per unit of stress load when tension attempts to straighten undulating interleaved fibers against each other… individual fibers are relatively weak perpendicular to their long axis, no?
REally, they are more or less the same. Each has it’s own different use. Take a standard braid, using the same tow size. Same material, except that a braid can 1: shear more, due to it being braided at a lesser angle, like 30deg. 2: if in a sleeve, then wrap around a tube with no seams and 3: can be braided with ±30 and 0, giving it even support in a directions. A fabric is just woven 0/90. You can get multi-axil, but those are not woven, and have no crimp (or minor due to stitching)
Both wovens and braids will crimp. Not sure how they are saying they won’t, unless they are talking about the ±30 and 0…the 30’s will be woven around the 0, and the 0 will remain more or less in the center of the cell units.