Effect of through-the-thickness areal density and yarn fineness on the mechanical performance of three-dimensional carbon–phenolic composites

An experimental investigation was performed to study the mechanical performance of 3D carbon/phenolic composites subjected to bending and impact forces. T300-3 k dry preforms were tufted using carbon threads of 396, 800, and 1600 tex. Also, the tufting densities varied from sparse density (tufted 16 × 16: areal density = 0.37 cm −2 ) to moderate density (tufted 11 × 11: areal density = 0.82 cm -2 ) and high density (tufted 5.5 × 5.5: areal...