Fabricating three-dimensional annular fiber structures

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of fabricating an annular fiber structure, the method comprising the steps consisting in: providing a first fiber sheet made up of substantially unidirectional elements; forming a transverse, first annular sheet by laying the first fiber sheet in alternation in one direction and in the opposite direction between coaxial outer and inner circular rings with the sheets being held at said rings; providing a second fiber sheet made up of substantially unidirectional elements; forming a circumferential, second annular sheet by depositing the second fiber sheet in a circumferential direction between said outer and inner rings; bonding the transverse and circumferential annular sheets to each other; and driving the transverse and circumferential annular sheets in rotation about the axis of the outer and inner rings so as to perform a plurality of complete revolutions in order to obtain a thick annular fiber structure having layers made up by the transverse sheet alternating with and bonded to layers made up by the circumferential sheet. The invention also provides an installation for performing the method.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.