Abstract: The three interlock laying-in weft knitted fabrics are knitted on a computerized flat knitting machine with glass continuous-filament yarns. The glass fiber knitted fabrics are used as reinforcement, the laminates of knitted fabrics/epoxy resin composites were prepared by manual molding technology. The tensile properties of the composite specimens are tested in universal testing machine. The results show that the tensile stress-strain curves of composites appear approximately linear. The tensile curves in the wale direction have obvious yield phenomenon. The tensile strength and modulus in the course direction are the highest, these in the diagonal direction are the second, the lowest in the wale direction. The strain along the course direction is the smallest. The tensile properties of composites possess obvious orthotropic characteristics. The tensile properties of the composite are related to the stitch and density of fabrics, and fiber volume fraction.

Key words: weft knitted fabrics, laying-in, composites, tensile strength, tensile modulus