3D Weaving Manufacturing Process of 3D

3D-Weaving:

3D-Weaving is a complete new concept in case of weaving. The first method of 3D woven fabric denotes 3 Dimensional fabrics, that is length, width and breadth. In 3 Dimensional fabrics, the thickness is an important criterion. Ordinary fabrics also have length, width and breadth, but in the 3 Dimensional fabrics, the thickness is much more than ordinary fabric. The thickness is achieved by forming multiplayer using multi series of warp and multi series of weft, which are intersecting at regular 90o angle as in usual cloth weaving principle.

It cannot be performed with existing traditional methods and machines. It interlaces a multiple layer warp with multiple horizontal wefts and multiple vertical wefts producing directly shell, solid and tubular types of fully interlaced 3D fabrics with countless cross-sectional profiles.

First demonstrated in 1997, Dual-Directional (D-D) Shedding System is indispensable for performing 3D-weaving. This path breaking development has advanced the technology of weaving to a new dimension for the first time in its more than 27000 years of history.

Manufacturing Technology of 3D-Weaving:
Special looms are required to operate the warp threads in 60o angle for weaving 3Dr-3 Directional fabrics. But the 3 Dimensional -3Dm- fabric can be woven by using ordinary loom with usual weaving principle-shedding, picking, beating - by having multi layers of warp and multi layers of weft. Even though the treble cloth with 3 series of warp and weft could be called 3Dm fabrics, in general, minimum 4 series of warp and weft are used in weaving to form several layers, one above the other to get the sufficient thickness resulting into 3 Dimensional fabric.
As per the principle of weft Tapestry fabric, to weave 3Dm fabrics, it is required to use one series of stitching warp and multi series of separating warp as per the number of layers to be formed. 

 As seen from the cross section, the stitching warp passes from top to bottom and bottom to top but all the separating warp lies almost straight and hence the stitching warp takes up more length than the separating warp. Therefore, the stitching warp is brought from a loose tension beam and the entire separating warp is brought from another normal tension beam.

The following points are to be understood from both the cross sections: -

The first layer weft (Face) - shown as "a" - lies between the stitching warp (shown as 1) and first separating warp series (shown as 3).
The second layer of weft (Middle) - shown as "b"- lies between the first and second separating warp series (shown as 3 and 4).
Application of 3D Weaving Fabric:
A new method has been developed for the manufacture of bifurcated prosthesis used in medical applications and they are used to replace the defective blood vessels in patients so as to improve blood circulation.

The 3D fabrics have recently entered the medical field. Their specific area of application is in the weaving of vascular prosthesis. Vascular prosthesis are surgically implantable materials. They are used to replace the defective blood vessels in patients so as to improve blood circulation. Conventional types of prosthesis were made from air corps parachute cloth, vignon sailcloth, and other types of clothing materials.

Materials such as nylon, Teflon, orlon, stainless steel, glass, and Dacron polyester fibre have been found to be highly suitable for the manufacture of prosthesis. These materials were found to be significantly stable with regard to resistance to degradation, strength, and were not adversely affected by other factors. Dacron polyester, which has bio-compatibility and high tensile strength, is being used over a period of time as suture thread or artificial ligaments.

Posted in: Weaving