ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the advances on two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) braided structures, including their production methods and properties. Fibrous structural 2D braided fabric and 3D braided preforms are generally used in different industrial areas as a form of dry and rigid composite structural materials. In the braiding process, 2D braided fabric was formed by traditional maypole technique in which its principle was based on the gear-horn assembly to intertwine the braider bobbin sequential manner. The primary applications of multiaxis 3D braiding are unmanned aerial vehicle and offshore platforms for critical and extreme thermo-mechanical load requirements. 2D and 3D triaxial braiding are more developed and widely applied than 3D braiding. Various methods and techniques on 3D braiding, 3D axial braiding and multiaxis 3D braiding were developed, including Cartesian braiding, rotary braiding, maypole braiding and axial ring braiding principles.
