Textile preforms for ceramiccomposites Figure I. Reinforcement directions. (2)A pure shear state is assumed (3)The difference in fiber contents in the axial and hoop directions of the thin walled cylinder is intended to reflect the axial-to-hoop stress ratio (4)The volume contents of fibers in the two mutually orthogonal directions are determined by the relative magnitudes of the loadin (5)The placement of fibers for the simple shear condition neglects the effects of buckling (6) The fibers in the transverse direction are intended for resisting delamination induced by the transverse shear in a thick plate. (7)Assuming a simply supported end condition of the I-beam, the fibers in the web-section are intended for carrying the shear stress 4. IDENTIFICATION OF FIBER PREFORMS AND PREFORMING TECHNOLOGIES The fiber preforms, which provide the necessary fiber reinforcement as required by the loading conditions, and the related preforming techniques need to be identified Table I summarizes the results of our assessment of the preforming techniques for a plate element. These include weaving, non-woven, braiding knitting, and stitching For each category of preforming technique, more than one method may be available nd each method produces preforms with a distinct geometric characteristic Here, as examples, three loading conditions in a plate element are considered: bi- axial loading, in-plane shear and transverse loading. The following fiber preforms are suitable for the bi-axial loading condition; angle-interlock, multi-axial weave. non-woven, multi-axial warp knit, cloth lamination stitch, and dry roving stitch Preforms suitable for in-plane shear loading include: multi-axial weave, non-woven. 4-step braid, multi-step braid, and 3D solid braid, multi-axial warp knit. cloth lamination stitch, and dry roving stitch. All the preform types indicated above