Woven structure and method of manufacture

A method for manufacturing a composite component, comprising:

• weaving a multi-layer woven preform for the component from warp and weft tows of fiber-reinforcement material, so that the woven preform comprises:
• a plurality of warp stacks, each elongate along a path corresponding to a longitudinal direction of the woven preform;
• wherein
• the warp stacks are adjacent one another along a lateral direction of the woven structure, each of the warp stacks comprising at least one warp tow which is elongate along the respective path, and
• one or more of the warp stacks is a multi-warp stack, the multi-warp stack comprising a plurality of warp tows which are in superposition along a longitudinal extent of the warp stack, thereby defining a superposed region of the multi-warp stack;
• a plurality of weft stacks, each elongate along a path transverse to the warp stacks;
• wherein
• the weft stacks are longitudinally-adjacent to each other, each of the weft stacks comprising at least one weft tow which is elongate along the respective path, and
• some of the plurality of weft stacks are multi-weft stacks, each of the multi-weft stacks comprising a plurality of weft tows which are in superposition along the stack, thereby defining a superposed region of the multi-weft stack;
• wherein
• weaving the multi-layer woven preform comprises weaving the warp tows and the weft tows of the respective stacks in a multi-layer weave:
• wherein one or more of the multi-warp stacks and/or one or more of the multi-weft stacks has an embedded taper structure comprising:
• an embedded tow which has a terminal portion between two locally outermost tows of the respective stack in the superposition region, the terminal portion terminating at a taper position along the respective path of the stack;
• the embedded tow has an end that is interior to the embedded taper structure at the taper position.

A woven structure formed by warp and weft tows of fiber reinforcement material, comprising:

• a plurality of warp stacks, each elongate along a path corresponding to a longitudinal direction of the woven structure;
• the warp stacks are adjacent one another along a lateral direction of the woven structure, each of the warp stacks comprising at least one warp tow which is elongate along the respective path, and
• one or more of the warp stacks is a multi-warp stack, the multi-warp stack comprising a plurality of warp tows which are in superposition along a longitudinal extent of the warp stack, thereby defining a superposed region of the multi-warp stack;
• a plurality of weft stacks, each elongate along a path transverse to the warp stacks;
• wherein
• the weft stacks are longitudinally-adjacent to each other, each of the weft stacks comprising at least one weft tow which is elongate along the respective path, and
• some of the plurality of weft stacks are multi-weft stacks, each of the multi-weft stacks comprising a plurality of interlaced weft tows which are in superposition along the stack, thereby defining an interlaced region of the multi-weft stack;
• wherein
• the warp tows and the weft tows of the respective stacks are woven in a multi-layer weave;
• one or more of the multi-warp stacks and/or one or more of the multi-weft stacks has an embedded taper structure comprising:
• an embedded tow which has a terminal portion between two locally outermost tows of the respective stack in the interlaced region, the terminal portion terminating at a taper position along the respective path of the stack;
• wherein the embedded tow has an end at the taper position;
• or
• wherein the terminal portion is adjacent to a lead-out portion of the embedded tow which extends past one of the locally outermost tows to exit the multi-layer weave for trimming.