Methods for forming composite articles from non-crimp fabrics

A method for forming a composite article, the method comprising:

• providing a non-crimp fabric (NCF) comprising a plurality of fiber plies maintained in a layup by stitching, wherein the stitching exhibits a lower structural tolerance to heat relative to the fiber plies;
• selectively reducing a thread strength or elasticity of the stitching in one or more predefined areas of the NCF using heat;
• breaking the stitching with the reduced strength or elasticity in only the one or more predefined areas while leaving substantially intact the stitching in remaining regions of the NCF;
• draping, subsequent to breaking the stitching, the NCF on a contoured article wherein, as a result of selectively breaking the stitching in the one or more predefined areas using heat, the NCF corresponds to topological features of the contoured article;
• and
• subsequently:
• applying a polymer matrix material to the draped NCF;
• and
• curing the polymer matrix material to form a contoured composite article.

A method for forming a composite article, the method comprising:

• providing a non-crimp fabric (NCF) comprising a plurality of fiber plies maintained in a layup by stitching, wherein the stitching exhibits a lower structural tolerance to UV light relative to the fiber plies;
• selectively reducing a thread strength or elasticity of the stitching in one or more predefined areas of the NCF using heat;
• breaking the stitching with the reduced strength or elasticity in only the one or more predefined areas while leaving substantially intact the stitching in remaining regions of the NCF;
• using UV light;
• draping, subsequent to breaking the stitching, the NCF on a contoured article wherein, as a result of selectively breaking the stitching in the one or more predefined areas using UV light, the NCF corresponds to topological features of the contoured article;
• and
• subsequently:
• applying a polymer matrix material to the draped NCF;
• and
• curing the polymer matrix material to form a contoured composite article.