A method for producing a part made of composite material includes adding a thermoplastic or thermosetting matrix around a preform of a reinforcing fiber mesh made by filament winding around the spurs or the like of a frame. There is winding in addition to the fibers on one or several reels within the matrix, the axes of the spurs or the like and those of the one or more reels having different orientations, so as to provide the mesh of fibers with a three-dimensional shape.

The invention relates to a method (30) for producing a molded body (52) from a fiber material (50), wherein a textile structure (54) that is provided with a binder material is first produced from the fiber material (50) using a textile technology (step 32). This textile structure (54) is subsequently shaped (step 34) and fixed in a predetermined three-dimensional form by an activation of the binder material (step 36). The activation of the binder material (step 36) is carried out iteratively here. This means that the binder material is activated progressively in some selected areas of the textile structure (54) (and the shape of the structure is fixed in these areas as a result) before an activation/fixing is carried out in other areas of the textile structure (54).

At least one braided composite layer configured to form a first ply may be provided. A plurality of slit tapes may be arranged and aligned such that each slit tape is adjacent to one another and non-overlapping, to form a second ply. A hybrid composite laminate may be formed by stacking a plurality of plies that includes at least one first ply and at least one second ply. Each slit tape may be a steered unidirectional composite slit tape that is aligned along an axis, contour line, or curve of the hybrid composite laminate, a mold/tooling used to shape the laminate, or the resulting composite part. Hybrid composite laminates may be formed by stacking at least one first ply formed of a braided composite layer and at least one second ply formed from a plurality of slit tapes. Composite parts may be formed by consolidating such hybrid composite laminates.

A pressure vessel includes a liner including a cylindrical body and a dorm portion continuous with at least one end of the body in an axial direction and includes a reinforced fiber sheet covering an outer side of the liner and made of fabric. The reinforced fiber sheet includes first yarns arranged on the body and the dorm portion such that yarn main axes of the first yarns extend in the circumferential direction of the liner and second yarns arranged on the body and the dorm portion such that yarn main axes of the second yarns extend in the axial direction of the liner. A total number of the first yarns or the second yarns that exist per unit length in the axial direction of the liner is smaller in the dorm portion than in the body.

A fiber-reinforced resin composite material has a longitudinal direction, and includes a first stack, a second stack, a ridge, a flat surface, and a connection. The ridge extends in the longitudinal direction. The flat surface is continuous to the ridge. The connection is where the first and second stacks are coupled. The first and second stacks are joined to each other in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction. Fibers of at least one of first fiber-reinforced resin sheets included in the first stack, fibers of at least one of second fiber-reinforced resin sheets included in the second stack, or both intersect the ridge. The connection includes the first and second fiber-reinforced resin sheets that are overlapped alternately, and includes ends of the first fiber-reinforced resin sheets, ends of the second fiber-reinforced resin sheets, or both that are shifted from each other to allow the connection to have a gradually-varied thickness.

A system for constructing a composite structure includes a braiding machine, a winding tool and a forming machine. The composite structure is constructed of a wound tubular braiding. The wound tubular braiding is constructed of a biaxial or triaxial tubular braid of unidirectional tape.

Examples are disclosed herein that relate to vehicles, composite parts, and three-dimensional (3D) textile preforms for composite parts. In one example, a 3D textile preform for a composite part comprises a flange portion and a stiffener portion extending upwardly from the flange portion. The stiffener portion comprises a first wall portion that extends from the flange portion and a second wall portion that extends from the flange portion at a location spaced from the first wall portion. A connecting portion connects the first wall portion and the second wall portion at a location spaced from the flange portion.

A method for making a three-dimensional composite part with a thermoplastic matrix and continuous reinforcement. A pre-impregnated fibrous perform is obtained by three-dimensional knitting. The preform is placed on the punch or in the matrix of a tooling, defining between them a sealed closed cavity. The tooling is closed so as to apply a first pressure to the preform. The cavity is brought to the melting temperature of the polymer impregnating the preform by maintaining the first pressure. The cavity comprising the preform is cooled to a temperature suitable for demolding by maintaining the second pressure. The mold is opened and the part is demolded.

A composite structural member including at least one first flange element made from a first composite material, and at least one first web element made from a second composite material. The at least one first web element is connected to at least one first flange element in a non-coplanar manner along a corresponding mutual first edge via a first corner element made from a third composite material, the mutual first edge extending along a first direction. The third composite material includes a corresponding first plurality of third composite material first fibers and a corresponding second plurality of third composite material second fibers embedded in a corresponding third composite material matrix in a non-parallel orientation with respect to the third composite material first fibers, wherein the third composite material first fibers are nominally orthogonal to the mutual first edge or to the first direction.

Methods of fabricating a multi-region U-shaped composite structure, the methods comprising the steps of laying up a first composite material on a first tool piece to form a first sidewall, laying up the second composite material on a second tool piece tool to form a second sidewall, re-orienting the first tool piece and the second tool piece to a consolidation orientation, laying up the third composite material to form a nose wall, and overlapping at least a portion of the third composite material with at least a portion of the first composite material and at least a portion of the second composite material.