Lightweight fiber-reinforced composite structures have been applied in aerospace for decades. Their mechanical properties are crucial for the safety of aircraft and mainly depend on manufacturing technologies such as autoclave, resin transfer molding and automated layup technology. In recent years, the rapid development of intelligent technology such as big data, deep learning, and machine learning has encouraged the development of manufacturing technologies to become low-cost, automatic, and intelligent. However, the current situation and intellectualization of manufacturing technologies is not well summarized. This paper reviews the advances in manufacturing technologies for fiber-reinforced composite structures, including autoclave, out of autoclave, resin transfer molding technologies, automated layup technology and additive manufacturing technology. Then, these technologies are compared in advantages and disadvantages, and their intellectualization development and challenges are also discussed. Finally, the development trend of intelligent manufacturing technologies and intelligent composite structures are discussed. This work can provide a reference for researchers in the related filed.

This article proposed a new convenient method to obtain tear strength of an airship envelope fabric, which is a laminated plain weave fabric with the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers. First, a modified formula based on Maekawa’s empirical formula was derived. Uniaxial tear tests were then conducted on three series of single-edge notched specimens with varying widths and their critical tear stresses were measured. The experimental result showed that critical tear stress decreases with the reduction of specimen width when initial crack length is fixed. Afterward, the tear stresses of the fabric were simulated by Maekawa’s empirical formula, the modified formula, and Thiele formula. By comparing the theoretical results with the experimental results, the modified formula was verified to be consistent well with the test data. Finally, an equation was derived, which shows tear strength of this fabric decreases as initial crack length increases. For instance, when the initial crack length is 31.75 mm, the tear strength is only 44.52% of the tensile strength.