Patent ID: 8372231

Claim:
A method for manufacturing comprising: forming a fiber layer and a porous bonding layer to form a unidirectional lay-up of fibers; heating the unidirectional lay-up of fibers under pressure to form a unidirectional composite tape to substantially maintain the fibers in a desired configuration; laying down a first plurality of lengths of the unidirectional composite tape to build a first layer from the unidirectional composite tape; laying down a second plurality of lengths of the unidirectional composite tape to build a second layer from the unidirectional composite tape on the first layer at a predetermined angle from the first layer; slitting at least one of the first plurality of lengths of the unidirectional composite tape and the second plurality of lengths of the unidirectional composite tape while laying down the first plurality of lengths of the unidirectional composite tape and the second plurality of lengths of the unidirectional composite tape, wherein slitting is generally parallel to slit lengths of the unidirectional composite tape; and forming a composite fabric from the first layer and the second layer.