Abstract: An integrally woven multi-apertured multi-ply angle interlock fabric is woven so as to have a plurality of apertures which extend across the width of the fabric and are completely contained within the thickness of the fabric. The fabric is comprised of a first yarn system in which yarns extending across the width of the fabric in parallel, spaced-apart fashion form a laminate of spaced-apart, generally parallel yarn layers between the opposite top and bottom surfaces. The fabric is also comprised of a second yarn system having weaver yarns arranged into yarn layers which repeatedly extend through portions of the thickness of the fabric between the top and bottom surfaces and which interweave with a plurality of the yarn layers of the frist yarn system on one side of and one or more yarn layers of the first yarn system on the other side of the plurality of apertures being formed within the thickness of the fabric.

Abstract: A multi-layer angle interlock fabric is woven from warp yarns that extend in straight fashion in a common direction along the length of the fabric and fill yarns which repeatedly extend through the thickness of the fabric along angled paths between opposite broad surfaces of the fabric and interweave within the relatively straight warp yarns. The fabric can be woven using a conventional fly shuttle loom with a programmable Jacquard machine which controls the loom's harness lines to selectively raise and lower the fill yarns extending through a weaving area of the loom as the loom shuttle reciprocates through the weaving area to repeatedly extend a fill yarn across the width of the fabric being formed. Stuffer yarns can be provided by periodically extending the fill yarn across the fabric width betweem adjacent sheets of the warp yarns during weaving.

Abstract: In a multi-layer woven fabric in which a first yarn system forms yarn layers between the opposite broad surfaces of the fabric and a second yarn system extends through the fabric thickness between the opposite broad surfaces and is interwoven with the yarn layers, at least one of the first and second yarn systems is comprised of two or more different yarn groups of different material composition disposed within different portions of the thickness of the fabric. This enables different materials such as carbon, ceramics, metals and organics to be disposed uniformly throughout the fabric thickness or to be concentrated within particular portions of the fabric thickness. In this manner multi-layer woven fabrics can be customized for particular applications in terms of their chemical, electrical, thermal, ablative, optical or other properties while retaining the advantageous structural characteristics of such fabrics. Both angle interlock and layer-to-layer weaving configurations may be used.