Analysis of circular braiding process - Part 1: Theoretical investigation of kinematics of the circular braiding process

Circular braiding is a manufacturing process for making circular braided fa brics, Relative sliding of yarns during their interlacing motion introduces friction which limits the density of the braided fabric. A kinematic analy sis is presented in this paper. Yarns' absolute motion, relative sliding mo tion and twist motion in the convergent zone are found to be important quan tities in braid kinematics that impact the final braid structure. The strai ght yarn assumption, which ignores the effect of interyarn forces, is analy zed in detail for its validity in calculating the braid angle. In Part 2 of this paper series a mechanics model is proposed to determine the braid ang le by considering interlacing forces and their effects on the braided struc ture.