Progressing in the study on mechanical properties of the 3D braided composites

Recent developments on mechanical behaviors of 3D braided composites were reviewed. It is summarized that experiment, microstructure modeling and numerical simulation are the mainly investigative methods. Experiment investigations concentrated on testing the mechanical properties of 3D braided composites with different braiding parameters and load. Microstructure modeling based on the yarn topology in the preform, such as '*' type model, fiber inclination model and 3-cell model, were applied successively. Numerical simulation is carried out by means of the finite element analysis based on the line elastic mechanical properties of 3D braided composites. However, further work is still required before the mechanical properties are properly predicted. Some suggestions for future investigations were also made in this paper.