A kind of composite was designed and additive manufacturing (AM) technology was utilized in the braiding structure fabrication. The printed polylactic acid (PLA) braiding structures were integrated with two types of resins (Epon 828 resin and urethane dimethacrylate/triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (UDMA/TEDGMA) resin) used as the matrix to make composite specimens. The compression test of the composite specimens showed that the printed PLA braiding structures had the effect of varying the compression properties of pure resins: it decreased the compression properties of Epon 828 resin, but increased those of UDMA/TEGDMA resin. Observing scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, it was noted that the decreasing and increasing in the compression properties of the specimens were related to the bonding compactness between the printed braiding structure and resins. Our results may suggest a new methods for the fast manufacturing of AM-based composites, further research directions, and potential applications of this kind of composites.

Hexagonal braiding technology is a kind of state-of-the-art braiding method, which uses hexagonal horngears to driveyarn carriers and make yarns intertwined into fabrics. In terms of hexagonal braiding principles, the braiding parameterslike initial arrangement of yarn carriers, yarn number and horngears sequence were defined, and then the movementpaths of yarn carriers in hexagonal braiding process and stitch length were obtained, which could be converted intocoordinates on the xoy plane and the coordinates along z-axis. In that case, a group of spatial coordinates were got tocreate the yarn trajectories and fabric structures in Matlab. And then, B-spline curve was utilized to fit the yarntrajectories. Considering the compactness of hexagonal fabric, the coordinates conversion algorithm and conversionmatrix were utilized to optimize the fabric structure, so a more compact fabric structure was established. The braidingangle variation and volume fraction of fabric showed that after coordinates conversion the braiding angles became morestable than original fabric model, and the fiber volume fraction of fabric was improved too. So the fabric structure modelwas available to describe hexagonal fabric structure, which can offer the reference for the further study on properties ofhexagonal braiding technology and application of hexagonal braided fabric