Thermoplastic braiding for the manufacture of composite articles

A method of manufacturing a composite article, the method comprising:

• forming a plurality of braided layers around a braiding mandrel along at least a portion of a longitudinal axis of the braiding mandrel by:
• for each braided layer of the plurality of braided layers, braiding tape segments of a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin tape applied at a tape tow orientation with thread segments of a thermoplastic resin thread applied at a thread tow orientation that is biased at an angle relative to the tape tow orientation, wherein the thread segments of the thermoplastic resin thread each take the form of a single filament thread or a multi-filament thread of thermoplastic resin, and wherein for a braided layer of the plurality of braided layers, the thread tow orientation is biased at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis;
• and
• heating and compressing a preform that includes at least a portion of the plurality of braided layers to obtain a consolidated form;
• wherein the thermoplastic resin thread present in the preform is integrated into the consolidated form.

A method of manufacturing a composite article, the method comprising:

• forming a plurality of braided layers around a braiding mandrel along at least a portion of a longitudinal axis of the braiding mandrel by:
• for each braided layer of the plurality of braided layers, braiding tape segments of a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin tape applied at a tape tow orientation with thread segments of a thermoplastic resin thread applied at a thread tow orientation that is biased at an angle relative to the tape tow orientation, wherein the thread segments of the thermoplastic resin thread each take the form of a single filament thread or a multi-filament thread of thermoplastic resin, and wherein for a braided layer of the plurality of braided layers, the thread tow orientation is biased at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis;
• tack welding a braided layer of the plurality of braided layers to another braided layer of the plurality of braided layers to stabilize a braided lay-up formed by the plurality of braided layers;
• cutting the braided lay-up into two or more portions;
• and
• heating and compressing a preform that includes a portion of the braided lay-up to obtain a consolidated form;
• wherein the thermoplastic resin thread present in the preform is integrated into the consolidated form.