Hm. Hsiao et al., FABRICATION METHODS FOR UNIDIRECTIONAL AND CROSSPLY COMPOSITES WITH FIBER WAVINESS, Journal of advanced materials, 26(2), 1995, pp. 19-26
New fabrication methods were developed to produce controlled fiber wav
iness in unidirectional and crossply composites. Unidirectional wavy c
omposites were fabricated by a tape-winding method and a three-step cu
ring method. The tape-winding method consists of winding the prepreg t
ape around a mandrel and enclosing the entire layup in a mold for curi
ng. In the three-step curing method the middle layers and the outer la
yers are partially cured into wavy and flat sublaminates, respectively
and, thereafter, sandwiched with uncured prepreg between them and co-
cured together. It was verified experimentally that the three-step cur
ing method produces the same quality material as the standard curing m
ethod. Crossply wavy composites were fabricated by inserting periodica
lly 90 degrees strips between the middle 0 degrees layers and the 90 d
egrees layers on either side of it.