Since this development, technologies focused on the manufacturing of 3D woven fabrics have been developed and used for the reinforcement of concrete structures, 3D woven vehicle components, woven sacks and many other applications.
However, during these early stages manual processes were used and the application of a machine in 3D weaving had first appeared in the form of the ‘tablet loom’. The earliest evidence of basketry comes from the Guitarrero Cave in Peru, during the period 8600–8000 B.C. Evidence of 3D weaving can be seen in pre-historic ages as the pre-historic humans had used weaving to produce baskets and other utensils for their day-to-day needs. Even though the concept of 3D fabrics is treated as a new concept, it has been in existence for a long period. These include but not limited to, smart integrations of electronics, reinforcements, medical applications, 3D contour weaving in 2D platforms and multi-axial weaving. Modern days, the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and simulation platforms, have opened up new avenues for traditional weaving (Vassiliadis et al. However, all of these technologies were dedicated to only two dimensional (2D) woven fabrics. But the transition of the handloom into the modern loom is widespread throughout the history and underwent many phases of evolution as studied by Broudy ( 1993). With the inspiration from this, the ‘vertical loom’ had been developed and eventually, the ‘horizontal loom’ came into existence which is the predecessor of the modern weaving loom. The term ‘loom’ in this context, is defined more generally as any frame or contrivance for holding the warp threads parallel to each other, to permit the interlacing of the weft at right angles to form a web (Broudy 1993). This can be stated as the first appearance of a ‘loom’. However, with a growing population and ever-improving advanced technologies, nowadays fabrics are mostly used for fashion and performance, thus enhancing the standard of living of human beings.Īt the inception, a set of warp yarns was hanged from a branch of a tree and the wefts were inserted manually. In the early stages, the primary objective of woven fabrics was to give protection through clothing and shelter. According to the archaeologist Kramrisch, the knowledge and mastery of the skill have long been a matter of intellectual pride (Kramrisch 1968). Traces of woven fabrics had been found in archaeological sites around the world. It has been in use since the Neolithic/Endolithic period (Adovasio et al. Weaving is an evolving technology used for producing fabrics through the interlacement of two perpendicular sets of yarns. Finally, the authors attempted to discuss the existing research gaps with potential directions for future research. Subsequently, a comprehensive review is made on the existing literature on 3D fully interlaced preform weaving devices, such as primary and secondary mechanisms as well as modelling of 3D woven fabric structures produced by 3D fully interlaced preform weaving. In the existing literature, an emphasis is given to the 3D fully interlaced preform weaving process, distinguishing it from other 3D woven fabric manufacturing methods. In this work, a brief introduction is given to the history of weaving followed by an introduction to 3D woven fabrics. 3D woven fabric preforms made from 3D fully interlaced preform weaving, using high-performance fiber yarns such as Dyneema, Carbon, Kevlar and Zylon, have exceptional mechanical properties with light-weight characteristics, which make them suitable candidates for high-end technical composite applications. 3D fully interlaced preform weaving introduces a method of producing fully interlaced 3D woven fabric structures with through-thickness reinforcement, which enhances the delamination resistance as well as out-of-plane mechanical characteristics. However, the majority of the said products lack in delamination resistance and possess poor out-of-plane mechanical characteristics, due to the absence or insufficiency of through-thickness reinforcement. A variety of 3D woven fabric reinforced composites and two dimensional woven fabric reinforced laminates can be found in the literature. 3D woven preforms have a huge demand in ballistic applications, aircraft industry, automobiles and structural reinforcements. 3D fabric preforms are used as reinforcements in composite applications.