Method of manufacturing a composite component for a gas turbine engine

A method of manufacturing a composite component for a gas turbine engine, the composite component including an outer shell, an inner hub, and a plurality of struts connecting the outer shell and the inner hub, the method comprising:

• arranging a woven three-dimensional fabric outer shell preform along a first assembly reference layout direction;
• arranging a woven three-dimensional fabric inner hub preform along the first assembly reference layout direction and adjacent to a first side of the outer shell preform;
• forming a preform assembly by:
• integrally weaving a plurality of strut fiber tows with the outer shell preform and with the inner hub preform to form at least one strut preform extending between the outer shell preform and the inner hub preform, each of the plurality of the strut fiber tows including (a) a first-connection portion being woven with the inner hub preform to extend in a first direction with respect to the first assembly reference layout direction, (b) a second-connection portion being woven with the outer shell preform to extend in a second direction opposite the first direction with respect to the first assembly reference layout direction, and (c) a strut portion defined between the first-connection portion and the second-connection portion, and extending between the outer shell preform and the inner hub preform, the strut portion being arranged to extend along the first assembly reference layout direction, and the first-connection portion and the second-connection portion being arranged offset from one another in the first assembly reference layout direction;
• and
• after integrally weaving the plurality of strut fiber tows to form the at least one strut preform, shifting the outer shell preform with respect to the inner hub preform in the first assembly reference layout direction and in a second assembly reference layout direction orthogonal to the first assembly reference layout direction to increase a distance in the second assembly reference layout direction between the outer shell preform and the inner hub preform, and to shift the strut portion of the plurality of strut fiber tows from extending along the first assembly reference layout direction to extending along the second assembly reference layout direction;
• installing the preform assembly onto a mold tooling structure;
• and
• applying a curing process to the mold tooling structure to obtain a molded composite component.