Method of manufacturing a woven fabric for a composite component

A method of manufacturing a woven fabric for a composite component for a gas turbine engine, the method comprising:

• weaving a plurality of reinforcing fiber tows to form the woven fabric, the plurality of reinforcing fiber tows including a plurality of first fiber tows and a plurality of second fiber tows oriented transversely to the plurality of first fiber tows, the woven fabric being a three-dimensional woven fabric having a first direction, a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and a thickness direction orthogonal to each of the first direction and the second direction, at least one of the plurality of first fiber tows or the plurality of second fiber tows being arranged in the thickness direction to form a plurality of fiber layers;
• interweaving a plurality of interlocking fiber tows through the plurality of fiber layers to connect the plurality of fiber layers to each other in the thickness direction to form an interlocked region;
• and
• forming a bifurcated region where adjacent layers of the plurality of fiber layers are free from interconnection by interlocking fiber tows forming a plurality of bifurcated layers.