of three-dimensional orientations arose from industry's need to reduce fabrication costs, to increase through-thickness mechanical properties, and to improve impact damage tolerance; all were problems associated with two-dimensional fibre-reinforced polymers. Manufacture of fibre preforms Fibre preforms are how the fibres are manufactured before being bonded to the matrix. Fibre preforms are often manufactured in sheets, continuous mats, or as continuous filaments for spray applications. The four major ways to manufacture the fibre preform is through the textile processing techniques of weaving, knitting, braiding and stitching. Weaving can be done in a conventional manner to produce two-dimensional fibres as well as in a multilayer weaving that can create three-dimensional fibres. However, multilayer weaving requires multiple layers of warp yarns to create fibres in the z-direction, creating a few disadvantages in manufacturing, namely the time to set up all the warp yarns on the loom. Therefore, most multilayer weaving is currently used to produce relatively narrow width products, or high value products where the cost of the preform production is acceptable. Another one of the main problems facing the use of multilayer woven fabrics is the difficulty in producing a fabric that contains fibres oriented at other than right angles to each other. The second major way of manufacturing fibre preforms is Braiding. Braiding is suited to the manufacture of narrow width flat or tubular fabric and is not as capable as weaving in the production of large volumes of wide fabrics. Braiding is done over top of mandrels that vary in cross-sectional shape or dimension along their length. Braiding is limited to objects about a brick in size. Unlike standard weaving, braiding can produce fabric that contains fibres at 45-degree angles to one another. Braiding three-dimensional fibres can be done using four-step, two-step or Multilayer Interlock Braiding. Four-step or row and column braiding utilizes a flat bed containing rows and columns of yarn carriers that form the shape of the desired preform. Additional carriers are added to the outside of the array, the precise location and quantity of which depends upon the exact preform shape and structure required. There are four separate sequences of row and column motion, which act to interlock the yarns and produce the braided preform. The yarns are mechanically forced into the structure between each step to consolidate the structure, as a reed is used in weaving. Two-step braiding is unlike the four-step process because the two-step