## 4 Conclusions  
This paper investigated the influence of the loading direction (with respect to the orientation of the transversal connections) on the mechanical response of both a knitted 3D and woven TRC layup. In tension, no influence of the transversal connections on the post-cracking stiffness was reported, independently of the type of connections or orientation. These observations showed the independence of the tensile mechanical behavior of TRCs to the presence of transversal connections. The woven 3D TRCs did, however, show a lower post-cracking stiffness and a higher failure strain in the warp (y-) direction due to the waviness of the yarns. In bending, all 3D TRC configurations and loading directions showed a significant increase of the post-cracking stiffness compared to the reference equivalent 2D layup. These results clearly highlighted the flexural anchorage mechanism provided by the transversal connections, with increases up to three times the post-cracking stiffness (for the 3D woven layup along x).  
The knitted 3D TRC layup showed a post-cracking stiffness increase of 25% regardless of the orientation of the transversal connections, while the woven 3D TRC exhibited a stiffer behavior in the wert (x-) direction. This corresponds to the stiffer tensile behavior in pure tension in the plane of the straightened longitudinal fibers, but is perpendicular to the plane in which the connections are woven with the in-plane textiles. These results indicate that a woven 3D textile remains more effective in the wert direction, despite the transversal connections being oriented in the perpendicular plane (warp direction). Nonetheless, the transversal fibers contribute to such an extent to the loadbearing behavior of the TRC that the 3D textiles in the warp direction outperform the 3D knitted layups in bending, while in tension they were clearly inferior. This illustrates the significant difference in anchorage that can be achieved when using different types of connections.  
These results highlighted the potential of 3D TRCs when used in structural applications, not only for the manufacturing ease but also for the mechanical response, especially when considering that the transversal connections of both layups were made of polyester, a non-structural material.  
However, when aiming towards future design, a thorough knowledge of the loading conditions in which the transversal connections are activated is required. Therefore, future work should investigate the activation of transversal connections for larger structural elements, such as bi- or multi-directionally loaded plates.  
Conceptualization, M.E.K. and T.T.; Data curation, M.E.K.; Funding acquisition, D.V.H., Resources, P.K.; Supervision, T.T.; Writing--original draft, M.E.K.; Writing--review & editing, J.W. and T.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO), grant number IWT697.  
This research was made possible thanks to the materials provided by our research partner \"3D Weaving\" within the larger SBO-project \"CecomStruct\" funded by the \"Agentschap Innoveren & Ondermemen\" as well as the experimental campaigns performed within the Interreg project \"Beton naar hoogwaardig beton\".  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.