more layers may be used depending upon the shape to be manufactured the foam ring is removed at the end of the preforming process a resulting preform 20 is depicted in fig2 made up of multiple segments 21 each having a thickness 28 in fig2 the segments are characterized by radial tow 25 they are joined to segment layers above and below by staple fibers 26 that have been needled into the z direction that is perpendicular to the planes of the segments two preform architectures using this new concept of radially oriented fibers at the friction surface have been manufactured in accordance with the present invention one preform architecture of this invention provides segments in which the continuous fibers are oriented parallel to the segment arc bisectors these segments are referred to as radial segments and are depicted in fig1 a the other preform architecture of this invention provides preforms manufactured from alternating layers of fabric segments that are angled u2014 within a spe cified range u2014 with resp ect to the continuous fibers derived from the unidirectional tow fig1 b illustrates 45 degree fiber oriented segments and u2212 45 degree fiber oriented segments the u201c u2212 45 u201d degree fiber oriented segments used in accordance with this invention can be made by changing the die cut angle as shown in fig1 b or simply by inverting u201c 45 u201d degree segments the.