3-D textile reinforced composites for the transportation industry 63 WV St:6t 2.14 Prototype of a sandwich hood based on an integrally woven sandwich. 210 到 A 2.6 Conclusions High stiffness and strength at low density,high mass-specific energy- absorption behaviour and good fatigue performance are the main features that have led to the successful application of composite materials in the aerospace industry over the past decades.Two typical examples are weight savings of approximately 25%in the Airbus fin as compared with alu- minium,and an extension of the service lives of helicopter rotor blades by a factor of more than 40. Textile structural composites with 3-D fibre reinforcement may facilitate utilizing the unique material performance in other structural components as well,e.g.the fuselage or wing components of new generations of pas- senger planes,such as the ultra-high-capacity aeroplanes planned by Boeing and Airbus.The main material improvements include enhanced damage tol- erance due to 3-D reinforcement,and reduced manufacturing costs result- ing from the application of highly productive textile technologies in the manufacture of fibre preforms.This fact may also be a key aspect when applying high-performance composites in high-volume automotive pro- ductions,trucks or trains. Nevertheless,the research and development work on textile structural composites involves several technological fields (see Fig.2.16).There is still2.6 Conclusions High stiffness and strength at low density, high mass-specific energy￾absorption behaviour and good fatigue performance are the main features that have led to the successful application of composite materials in the aerospace industry over the past decades. Two typical examples are weight savings of approximately 25% in the Airbus fin as compared with alu￾minium, and an extension of the service lives of helicopter rotor blades by a factor of more than 40. Textile structural composites with 3-D fibre reinforcement may facilitate utilizing the unique material performance in other structural components as well, e.g. the fuselage or wing components of new generations of pas￾senger planes, such as the ultra-high-capacity aeroplanes planned by Boeing and Airbus.The main material improvements include enhanced damage tol￾erance due to 3-D reinforcement, and reduced manufacturing costs result￾ing from the application of highly productive textile technologies in the manufacture of fibre preforms. This fact may also be a key aspect when applying high-performance composites in high-volume automotive pro￾ductions, trucks or trains. Nevertheless, the research and development work on textile structural composites involves several technological fields (see Fig. 2.16). There is still 3-D textile reinforced composites for the transportation industry 63 2.14 Prototype of a sandwich hood based on an integrally woven sandwich. RIC2 7/10/99 7:26 PM Page 63 Copyrighted Material downloaded from Woodhead Publishing Online Delivered by http://woodhead.metapress.com Hong Kong Polytechnic University (714-57-975) Saturday, January 22, 2011 12:29:45 AM IP Address: 158.132.122.9