Properties of facesheet-reinforced 3-D spacer fabric composites and the integral multi-facesheet structures

3-D spacer fabric is a new sandwich structure textile developed by integrally woven technique. Mono-spacer fabric composite made by 3-D spacer fabric has super-high specific strength and specific stiffness. However, its mechanical properties cannot meet the demand of structural applications. In this article, facesheet-reinforced 3-D spacer fabric composites were investigated by laminating additional glass weave at the skin sheets. Mechanical behavior of this facesheet-reinforced 3-D spacer fabric composite was studied experimentally. Effects of various factors on the mechanical properties were also discussed, such as the additional layer number, the type of glass weave, and the lay-up type. Furthermore, an innovative integral multi-facesheet structure composite was developed by directly weaving three uniformly spaced facesheets in one construction. The mechanical performance was compared with bonded multi-facesheet spacer fabric composite and mono-spacer fabric composite under the same conditions. The results indicated that additional weaves could strengthen the composite facesheets greatly, and the multi-facesheet structure could improve the properties correlated with the piles effectively.