The Design and Structure of Warp

Knit Auxetic Fabrics

Samuel C. Ugbolue, Steven B. Warner, Yong K. Kim, Qinguo Fan,
Chen Lu Yang*, Olena Kyzymchuk** and Yani Feng (Graduate student)
Department of Materials and Textiles,
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA
* Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center, UMassD, USA
** Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, Ukraine.
WHAT IS AUXETIC STRUCTURE?
The Greek word auxetos means that which grows.
Auxetic materials exhibit the unexpected feature of becoming
fatter when stretched and narrower when compressed
In other words, they exhibit a negative Poissons ratio.
Auxetic materials have been formed as polymer gels, carbon
fiber composite laminates, metallic foams, honeycombs and
microporous polymers as affine structures.
CONVENTIONAL AUXETIC
(Positive Poisson's Ratio) (Negative Poisson's Ratio)
Poissons Ratio
is the ratio of transverse contraction strain to longitudinal
extension strain in the direction of stretching force
Typical Values of Poissons Ratio for various materials
Materials Poissons ratio Materials Poissons ratio
Rubbers 0.5
Typical polymer
foams
0.1-0.4
Soft biological
tissues
0.5 Polyester 0.37-0.44
Lead 0.45 Nylon 6.6 0.41
Aluminum 0.33 Acrylic 0.37-0.45
Common Steels 0.27 Cork Nearly zero
A whole range of synthetic auxetic materials, including carbon
fiber composites, honeycomb structures and microporous
polymers have been produced
The multifilament construction
Ken Evans and Patrick Hook, the University Exeter
MOTIVATION FOR DEVELOPING AUXETIC
TEXTILES
The use of auxetic materials has been limited because of
problems with deploying them in their fabricated forms.
Auxetic fibers in an engineered textile structure will exhibit the
very unusual, interesting and useful property of becoming wider
when stretched and thinner when compressed. Such a process
will revolutionize the protective clothing industry.
The novel fabrics will offer improved shear stiffness, increased
plane strain fracture toughness and increased indentation
resistance.
In terms of cost and performance, the new auxetic textiles will be
technically superior and environmentally viable, providing United
States companies with a competitive advantage.
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS
Auxetic yarns and filaments could be used for sutures and
fiber-reinforced composite applications.
Auxetic structures could be used as composite materials,
personal protective appliances, fibrous materials and
biomedical filtration materials.
As textile structures for bandages for compression therapy
(where the bandage would react to compress swelling of
the limb while also improving breathability as required).
The use of auxetic filaments, yarns or fabric structures to
deliver active agents as intelligent textiles having anti-
inflammatory, anti-odor, or drug-release capabilities.
Objectives
The main objective of this research is to study how fabric
geometry and structural design can be integrated to
engineer novel auxetic warp knit fabrics.
The technical approaches are to:
1.Design and investigate warp knitted structures as auxetic
textiles offering optimum performance.
2. Investigate the influence of knitting parameters such as
tension, cover factor and stitch density on the mechanical
performance of the developed auxetic structures;
3. Develop appropriate models and validate with experimental
data for the developed auxetic structures.
DESIGN of AUXETIC
WARP KNITS
The warp knit structures formed
by wales of chain and inlay yarns
The model of auxetic structure I
For the system, the strains in the
Oxi directions (i=1,2) for the
modes of deformation are given
by:
where X1 and X2 are dimensions of
the unit cell along the Ox1 and
Ox2 directions which are given
by:
The analytical equation for the
Poissons ratio is:
1
( 1,2)
i
i
dX
d i
X d
c u
u
= =
1
2
2 sin
2( cos )
X l
X h l
u
u
=
=
2 1
1 2
tan
xy
X
X
c
v u
c
= =
The fillet knitting structure with inlay yarns
The model of auxetic structure II
The principal assumptions for the
deformation are: the angles
between ribs deform elastically;
no change of length of the
individual ribs is allowed; the
translational symmetry of the net
is kept throughout deformation.
The engineering strain of such
model:
( ) ( )
( )
|
|
.
|

\
|

A +
= 1
cos
1 cos
4
0 0
0 0
| ,
| | ,
c
k
r
x
|
|
.
|

\
|
= 1
sin
sin
4
0
|
|
c
n
y
r
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
cos sin sin
sin cos 1 cos
| , | |
| | , | | ,
v

A +
=
n
yx
k
The in-lay warp knit Auxetic structure
FABRIC PRODUCTION
Knitting machine
Jakob Muller Crochet Knitting
machine (RD3MT3/630) equipped with
8 guide bars is used in this study to
produce fabric samples of 10wpi,
630 millimeters wide.
Materials
Structure I
Polyester
The linear density is
250 den x 2. It is
manufactured by DuPont.
Polyester / Spandex
96 filaments of polyester
are wrapped with 1 end
Spandex. The linear
density of polyester is
150 den, while that of
Spandex is 40den. The
yarn is supplied by Unifi Inc
Structure II
Polyester
The linear density is
250 den x 2. It is
manufactured by DuPont.
Nomex
The linear density is
200 den x 2.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The methodology for measuring the
Poissons ratio of the fabrics
Videoextensometry along with
micro-tensile testing were
used:
Instron 5569 Mechanical
Tester
ASTM D5034-95(2001) for
Breaking Strength and
Elongation of Textile Fabrics
(Grab Test) is followed.
Sensicamera QE has high
resolution (1376 x 1040 pixel).
Poissons ratio test results of the fillet
knitting structure with inlay yarns
Photo of initial Photo of specimen
specimen during test
-0,6
-0,5
-0,4
-0,3
-0,2
-0,1
0
0,1
0,2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Strain, %
P
o
i
s
s
o
n

r
a
t
i
o
1
2
3
Average
Min Poissons ratio of fillet warp knit
structures (wales direction)
3
5
1
2
3
-0,6
-0,5
-0,4
-0,3
-0,2
-0,1
0
- Ex/Ey
Number of chain courses
Number of tricot courses
Poissons ratio test results of the
in-lay warp knit Auxetic structure
Photo of specimen during test
Photo of initial specimen
Conclusion
Poissons ratio test results of auxetic warp knitted
structures indicate that auxetic properties are
achieved in all structures.
Further studies on the influence of knit parameters
such as tension, architecture and cover
factor/density on the mechanical performance of the
auxetic structures are in progress.
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Thanks!