A method of fabricating a fiber structure by multilayer three-dimensional weaving between a plurality of weft yarns and of warp yarns, the fiber structure having at least first and second portions that are adjacent in the warp direction, the first portion presenting, in a direction perpendicular to the warp and weft directions, a thickness greater than the thickness of the second portion, includes making the first portion using a step of three-dimensionally weaving warp and weft layers in which a fiber fabric is formed in the form of a Mock-Leno weave grid in a core of the first portion together with skins at a surface of the first portion, a weave of the skins being modified locally so as to deflect certain warp yarns from said skins and weave them with the fiber fabric in the form of the Mock-Leno weave grid.

A gas turbine fan casing made of composite material with a fibrous reinforcement includes a plurality of superimposed turns of a strip-shaped fibrous texture having a three-dimensional weaving between a plurality of layers of warp yarns and a plurality of layers of weft yarns, the fibrous reinforcement being densified by a matrix. The fibrous texture includes at least one lateral section of variable thickness in which the weft yarns have a size or a count different from the size or the count of the weft yarns of the plurality of layers of weft yarns present in the remainder of the fibrous texture.

A method for weaving a three-dimensional preform includes the following steps: decomposing and determining performance requirements of different functional locations of the parts; selecting guide sleeves and fibers of each of the functional locations and designing a parameter; selecting guide sleeves and fibers of a transition area and designing a parameter, thereby implementing smooth transition of the transition area; determining a weaving sequence according to layouts of the guide sleeves and winding manners of the fibers in the functional locations and the transition area to generate a fiber iterative instruction for layer-by-layer weaving; arranging guide sleeves according to design requirements of the functional locations and the transition area to generate a guide sleeve array; and driving a weaving mechanism to select different fibers for subarea weaving layer by layer to obtain the three-dimensional preform having a gradient structure.

Disclosed is a weaving assembly including a rotatable base, a base positional controller, a weave control grid, a warp fiber support, warp fiber arms, a warp fiber arm positional controller and a fill fiber wand.

Disclosed is a weaving method including placing a first section of a fill fiber between warp fibers, forming a pick, moving a base to reposition the warp fibers, and placing a second section of the fill fiber between the warp fibers to form a woven structure, wherein at least a portion of the warp fibers are introduced to the woven structure using a weave control grid. Also disclosed is a weaving assembly including a base, a base positional controller, a weave control grid, warp fiber arms, a warp fiber arm positional controller and a fill fiber wand.

Device for producing a preform to a given 3D profile, from at least two warp tapes/filaments (18) placed in a first plane and at least one weft tape/filament (20) placed in a second plane, the first and second planes making a determined angle, characterized in that it comprises feed means (12) for warp tapes/filaments (18) with independent modules, feed means (14) for weft tapes/filaments (20), manoeuvring .sub.[GH19] means (16) for manoeuvring the warp tapes/filaments (18) with respect to the weft tapes/filaments (20), and manoeuvring means (16) for manoeuvring all of the warp tapes/filaments (20), according to said given 3D profile.

Disclosed is a weaving method including placing a first section of a fill fiber between warp fibers, forming a pick, moving a base to reposition the warp fibers, and placing a second section of the fill fiber between the warp fibers to form a woven structure, wherein at least a portion of the warp fibers are introduced to the woven structure using a weave control grid. Also disclosed is a weaving assembly including a base, a base positional controller, a weave control grid, warp fiber arms, a warp fiber arm positional controller and a fill fiber wand.

A weaving loom for weaving a multilayer fabric with weft insertion mechanism (90) and main heddles moved by a Jacquard main shedding mechanism for guiding main warp yarns (12) and defining a main harness width (W11). According to the invention, the weaving loom includes auxiliary heddles (21) moved by an auxiliary shedding mechanism, for guiding auxiliary warp yarns (22) and defining a clamping area (W21) arranged within the main harness width (W11). At a first pick, the auxiliary heddles are configured for closing the auxiliary shed of auxiliary warp yarns for clamping an inserted weft (100) while the main shed is still open.

A method of manufacturing a preform including a core and a sole includes contour weaving the preform on a lap roller having a groove or an outgrowth allowing shape weaving of the core and the sole of the preform. At least one portion of the core and at least one portion of the sole include weft yarns which cross each other on common warp yarns.

A machine and method are presented for continuously forming a woven composite with controllable internal fabric geometry. The machine may include one or more spools for dispensing one or more warp filaments, a roller assembly configured to receive a composite weave, a warp rack having a plurality of warp heads for engaging the warp filaments and vertically adjusting position to dynamically create a weave pattern in response to the insertion of one or more weft filaments by a weft inserter stack.