The Journal of The Textile Institute

ISSN: 0040-5000 (Print) 1754-2340 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjti20

The development of novel auxetic woven structure

for impact applications

Muhammad Liaqat, Hafiz Abdul Samad, Syed Talha Ali Hamdani & Yasir
Nawab

To cite this article: Muhammad Liaqat, Hafiz Abdul Samad, Syed Talha Ali Hamdani & Yasir
Nawab (2016): The development of novel auxetic woven structure for impact applications, The
Journal of The Textile Institute, DOI: 10.1080/00405000.2016.1239330

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2016.1239330

Published online: 30 Sep 2016.

Submit your article to this journal

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tjti20

Download by: [La Trobe University] Date: 30 September 2016, At: 09:08
The Journal of The Textile Institute, 2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2016.1239330

The development of novel auxetic woven structure for impact applications

Muhammad Liaqat, Hafiz Abdul Samad, Syed Talha Ali Hamdani  and Yasir Nawab 
Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Department of Weaving, National Textile University, Faisalabad, Pakistan

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Nowadays, the auxetic materials, auxetic reinforcement as well as auxetic composite are under the great Received 22 June 2016
attention of scientific research due to having excellent mechanical properties. In the current research Accepted 17 September 2016
work, the impact resistance of composite was improved by modifying the four layer through the thickness KEYWORDS
woven structure, that was used as reinforcement. A comparison was made between the standard four layer Auxetic; 2-D woven; 3-D
through the thickness and modified four layer through the thickness woven structure in terms of auxeticity fabrics; impact resistance;
and penetration. The modified four layer through the thickness woven structure showed auxetic behavior penetration resistance
in both warp and weft direction having less penetration resistance as compared to standard sample. The
four layer through the thickness non-auxetic woven structures and modified auxetic four layer thorough
the thickness woven structures were used as reinforcements to develop composite for impact resistance
comparison. The result showed that impact resistance of auxetic composite was 6.7% greater as compared
to the non-auxetic composite. It was concluded that the greater value of impact resistance was due to the
auxetic behavior of modified four layer through the thickness woven structure.

Introduction fabrics are replacing foam pads due to their increased air perme-
ability. They are being used in sportech for making knee pads.
The auxetic materials and structure have received a great atten-
Auxetic yarns are used to make anti-blast curtains due to their
tion from scientific community, especially, from materials engi-
good impact and indentation resistance. Auxetic structure or
neers and textile experts. This is because of their extraordinary
auxetic yarn can be used in automobile industries due to their
properties such as modulus of rigidity, toughness, indentation
high energy absorption property, good impact and indentation
hardness resistance, synclastic curvature, and impact resistance.
resistance. Since, automobile safety is highly researched (Guo,
Auxetic materials have numerous application such as filtration,
Wang, Guo, Yu, & Sun, 2014; Hamdani & Fernando, 2015; Kim
impact resistance, and dresses made for maternity. They are also
& Kwon, 2016; Zhang et al., 2016), the auextic structures can
used in the manufacturing of functional garments, health care,
be used to make the front or back body of car, which will help
and protective clothing (Bilisik, Karaduman, & Bilisik, 2016).
to reduce the impact of accident by energy absorption. Honey
Auxetic fabrics find their applications to filter the particles of
comb-based sandwich auxetic composite are well known in mak-
various sizes. The pore size of smart filters can be controlled by
ing the lower body of the car and buses to avoid the noise of the
stretch property of auxetic fabric. The mechanism involves the
engine because honey comb sandwich composite act as a sound
stretching of fabric and opening of pores due to auxetic yarn or
absorber. Auxetic fabrics made of foldable structure can easily
auxetic structures. The mechanism helps larger particles to pass
expand in bilateral directions and can be used in the manufac-
through the open pores, which cannot otherwise. The auxetic
turing of maternity dresses and the dresses made for new born
structures are also used as tear resistant film. The pore opening
babies (Wang & Hu, 2014b).
effect of auxetic yarns can also be used for color changing fabric
Various techniques have already been employed such as ther-
for esthetic purpose by inserting a substrate of different color
mal processing, melt spinning, wrapping, knitting, reinforcement
under the auxetic layers. Auxetic materials can be used for arti-
arrangements, injection, and foaming process to develop auxe-
ficial blood vessel in medical. The wall thickness increases due
tic structure. Among many researchers, Webber, Alderson, and
to auxeticity, when the pulse of blood flows through it. Auxetic
Evans (2000) have proposed thermal processing route for the
materials or structures can also be used in smart bandages to
development of auxetic materials. Auxetic polyamide fibers, aux-
release and stop the healing agent, as the swelling is decreased
etic polyester, and auxetic polypropylene film have been devel-
(Liu, 2006).
oped using melt spinning (Alderson, Alderson, Smart, Simkins,
The auxetic materials that offer synclastic curvature are used
& Davies, 2002; Ravirala, Alderson, Alderson, & Davies, 2005).
in manufacturing of curved surfaces that adapt to the subject
Auxetic yarns have been proposed by Sloan, Wright, and Evans
body shape such as knee, elbow, and shoulder. Auxetic spacer

CONTACT  Syed Talha Ali Hamdani  hamdani.talha@ntu.edu.pk

© 2016 The Textile Institute
2    M. Liaqat et al.
(2011) and Ge, Hu, and Liu (2016) using conventional fibers.
When the tensile strain was applied on such yarn, the diameter
of yarn was increased. In such cases, the core fiber was used with
low modulus and it was wrapped with a fiber having smaller
diameter and higher stiffness.
The similar concept of auxetic helical yarn was utilized by
Ugbolue et al. (2010) to produce warp knitted structures, which
showed Poisson ratio of -0.6 across the width of fabric. 3-D aux-
etic warp-knitted spacer fabrics have also been developed (Wang
& Hu, 2014a; Wang, Hu, & Xiao, 2014). The effect of structural
parameters (Liu, Hu, Lam, & Liu, 2010) and geometrical struc-
tures (Hu, Wang, & Liu, 2011; Ugbolue et al., 2011) on Poisson
ratio of weft-knitted fabric has also been studied.
In further research, the auxetic composite was fabricated
using two different techniques. In first technique, fiber-rein-
forced composite was laminated by non-auxetic materials. Using
this technique, the composite laminates can have in plane or
out plane Negative Poisson’s ratio (NRP). In second technique,
auxetic composites were made using auxetic reinforcement. In
this technique, the auxetic composites were manufactured by
introducing a network of auxetic fibers as reinforcement within
a conventional matrix (Jayanty, Crowe, & Berhan, 2011).
Ge and Hu (2013, 2015) worked on the development of aux-
etic 3-D-knitted structure for composite reinforcement and
analyzed the deformation of 3-D auxetic structure. Another
team of researchers worked on the development of 3-D woven
preforms for composites to analyze the effect of weave pattern
and number of layers on 3-D woven structures (Bilisik, Sahbaz
Karaduman, Bilisik, & Bilisik, 2013). Manufacturing of such aux-
etic composites involves three sets of yarns; warp, weft, and stitch
yarns. Warp and weft yarns were alternatively arranged along
two directions and are stitched using stitching yarn across the
thickness of fabric. The rigid braided of polyamide yarn was used
as warp yarn, flexible yarn as weft and elastic stitch yarn having
fine count relatively used for better binding purpose (Hou, Hu,
& Silberschmidt, 2012).
Recently, an auxetic composite has been made using mul-
tilayer orthogonal structure as reinforcement by Jiang, Gu,
and Hu (2016). The negative Poisson ratio was because of the
Figure 1. Cross-sectional views of (a) standard four layers, through the thickness, 2-D woven 3-D fabric structure and (b) the modified four layers, through the thickness,
2-D woven 3-D fabric structure.
especial arrangements of reinforcement in the orthogonal struc-
ture. Bilisik (2010) compared to the mechanical properties of
3-D orthogonal and 3-D woven preforms composites. The com-
posite was manufactured using injection and foaming process.
The highest NPR was recorded as −0.105 under compressive
strain of 50% while the non-auxetic composites were failed
at 18% of compressive strain due to fracture of reinforcement
structure.
The current research is focused to provide a modified four
layer through the thickness woven structure with improved
impact resistance. In the current research, the auxeticity is
achieved by woven technology. The auxetic woven fabric can be
used as reinforcement in composite. This will help to gain high
impact resistance than conventional composite.
Experimental
In the current research, two samples were tested i.e. one stand-
ard four layer through the thickness (non-auxetic 2-D woven
3-D fabric) woven structure and the other modified four layer
through the thickness (auxetic 2-D woven 3-D fabric) woven
structure. The standard sample, four layer through the thickness
woven fabric was made by three sets of yarns (warp, weft, and
stitch yarns). The material used for warp and weft yarns was cot-
ton, whereas flax was used for stitch yarn. The linear density used
for warp and weft yarns was 7/1 Ne, whereas the equivalent flax
linear density of 7/1 Ne was used for stitch yarn. The fabric den-
sity for both standard and modified structure was 26 × 14 threads
per square centimeter. These three sets of yarn were all interlaced
with each other in three dimensions. The fabric was made of
plain weave for the four layer, whereas the two binding threads
were used for stitching, through the thickness with opposing
behavior i.e. alternate to each other as shown in Figure 1(a).
The standard sample was modified using two binding/stitching
threads through the thickness with reinforcing behavior i.e. par-
allel to each other as shown in Figure 1(b). Then standard four
layer through the thickness woven fabric and modified four layer
through the thickness woven fabric were converted into compos-
ites using Vacuum-assisted resin Transfer Molding.

In order to measure the auxeticity, the thickness test was per-
formed along warp and weft direction using digital thickness
tester under ASTM D1777. Universal tensile testing machine
was used to measure the penetration resistance of both standard
and modified four layer through the thickness fabric. Penetration
test was performed at 1000 mm/min up to 100 mm of depth.
Charpy impact test method (ASTM D6110) was used to meas-
ure the impact resistance of composites made of standard and
modified four layers through the thickness woven fabric. In this
method, rectangular shape composite sample was fixed between
the clamps of the tester. A pendulum was released from a height
and allowed to fall. As the pendulum swings, it exerts an impact
on the specimen and breaks the specimen, rising to a height. This
difference was directly measured to amount of energy lost due to
fracturing the specimen and apparatus gives value in foot-pound.
The total energy in fracturing the specimen can also determine
using the formula given in Equation (1).
Tt = mg(hi − hf ). (1)
where ‘Tt’ is the total energy, ‘m’ is the mass, and ‘g’ is the grav-
itational acceleration. ‘hi’ is the initial height and ‘hf’ is the final
height.
Results and discussion
The thickness of standard four layer through the thickness woven
fabric in warp direction against various strain percentage is given
in Table 1. At relax position, the thickness of the sample was
3.10 mm with 139 mm of warp length. When force was applied
Table 1. Thickness test results for standard structure.
Standard sample Initial length (mm) Final length (mm) Initial thickness (mm)
Warp wise 139 142
139 146
139 149
Weft wise 125 129
125 131
125 132
Figure 2. Graph between Poisson’s ratio and strain % (Warp wise).
The Journal of The Textile Institute   3
along the length, the thickness of the sample was decreased
from 3.10 to 3.05 mm as fabric sample was stretched from 139
to 149 mm.
Figure 2 shows the relationship between Poison’s ratio and
strain%. An inverse relationship was found between fabric length
and thickness of standard four layer through the thickness woven
fabric under stress conditions. The Poisson’s ratio was observed to
be positive, which concluded that the standard four layer through
the thickness woven structure was not auxetic, as expected.
Initially, when force was applied, the thickness of standard four
layer through the thickness woven fabric was decreased rapidly
due to the compressive forces of binding threads as a results of
their opposing behavior. The binding threads try to come closer
due to which the thickness of the structure was decreased. After
a limit, the reduction in thickness became less significance. A sit-
uation comes, when a little change in thickness occurs due to the
deformation of yarn’s diameter under the large strain. Similarly,
the Poisson ratio in weft direction is shown in Figure 3, which
shows that Poisson ratio increases with increase in strain.
Figure 4 indicates the relation between strain% and poison’s
ratio for modified four layer through the thickness woven fabric.
The strain % and Poisson ratio of modified woven structure is
tabulated in Table 2. Negative Poisson’s ratio shows that the thick-
ness of fabric was increased due to increase length of warp, which
means that the modified four layer through the thickness woven
structure can be categorized as auxetic structure. The increase
in fabric thickness was due to reinforcing behavior of binding
threads. When force was applied in warp direction, the binding
threads try to become straight by pushing four picks along with
Thickness final (mm) Strain % Poisson’s ratio
3.10 3.08 2.16 0.30
3.10 3.06 5.04 0.26
3.10 3.05 7.2 0.22
2.86 2.84 3.2 0.22
2.86 2.82 4.8 0.29
2.86 2.80 5.6 0.37
4    M. Liaqat et al.

Figure 3. Graph between Poisson’s ratio and strain % (Weft wise).

Figure 4. Graph between Poisson’s ratio and strain % (Warp wise).

Table 2. Thickness test results for modified sample.

Modified sample Initial length (mm) Final length (mm) Initial thickness (mm) Thickness final (mm) Strain % Poisson’s ratio
Warp wise 127.2 128.4 3.20 3.26 0.94 −1.99
127.2 129.5 3.20 3.32 1.80 −2.08
127.2 130.6 3.20 3.38 2.7 −2.08
127.2 132.4 3.20 3.40 4.08 −1.5
Weft wise 107.3 108.5 3.18 3.22 1.12 −1.13
107.3 110 3.18 3.28 2.5 −1.26
107.3 112.7 3.18 3.30 5 −0.75

warps downward and further four picks upward so thickness of
fabric was increased rather than decrease.
Figure 5 indicates that the modified four layer through the
thickness sample is auxetic in weft direction as well i.e. when the
force is applied along the weft direction the thickness of the fabric
is improved. The above studied structures were used as reinforce-
ment in composites and impact strength of both composites made
by standard four layer through the thickness (non-auxetic) woven
structure and modified four layer through the thickness woven
structure is given in the composite of standard four layer through
the thickness woven structure showed a brittle breaking behavior
due the rigid nature of reinforcement (non-auxetic) as shown in
the Figure 6. The rigidity in the reinforcement (standard sample)
structure is due to the plain weave of four layer and binding threads.
Basically due to the excessive intersection point of plain weave, the
energy dissipation is less as compared to the soft structure having
 The Journal of The Textile Institute   5

Figure 5. Graph between Poisson’s ratio and strain % (Weft wise).

Figure 6.  Composite breaking behavior against impact (standard non-auxetic). (a) Composite before impact (weft wise), (b) Composite after impact (weft wise), (c)
Composite after impact (Warp wise).

Table 3. Penetration and charpy impact tests results. in the structure and reed denting order. Air gap and small holes
Sample Penetration (N) Energy dissipation (J) were observed in the place where binding threads behave as plain
Standard sample (warp wise) 1068.61 ± 208.33 40.44 ± 0.392 weave in the structure. When the needle of penetration tester was
Standard sample (weft wise) 40.44 ± 0.392 passed through such places, less force was required to penetrate
Modified sample (warp wise) 802.97 ± 172.07 43.16 ± 0.392 through the fabric. The average force required to penetrate the
Modified sample (weft wise) 42.03 ± 0.001
standard sample was 1068.6 N and average force for penetration
of modified sample was 823  N. So the penetration resistance
less intersection. The value of energy at the breaking point of the of standard four layer through the thickness woven fabric was
composite of standard four layer through the thickness woven found to be more as compared to the modified sample. Since, the
structure along the warp and weft is shown in the Table 3. ground weave for both the structures was same so they were the
binding threads, which make the difference in penetration resist-
ance. The plain weave offers the best penetration resistance due
Penetration resistance to more number of intersections in specific area of woven fabric.
The results in Table 3 show that there were variations in force The binding threads in standard four layer through the thick-
required to penetrate the standard and modified sample at dif- ness woven structure behave like plain weave and compressed
ferent places. This is because of the placement of binding thread the basic four layers. If there are more number of intersections
6    M. Liaqat et al.
Figure 7. Auxetic composite breaking behavior against impact (Modified sample). (a) Composite before impact (warp wise), (b) Composite after impact (warp wise), (c)
Composite after impact (weft wise).
in the specified area then it would be difficult for the needle to
penetrate or pass through the structure. As in modified four layer
through the thickness sample, the stitching threads do not behave
like plain weave so the structure is soft having less penetration
resistance as compared to the standard sample.
Impact strength
The composite of standard four layer through the thickness
woven structure showed a brittle breaking behavior due the rigid
nature of reinforcement (non-auxetic) as shown in the Figure 6.
The rigidity in the reinforcement (standard sample) structure is
due to the plain weave of four layer and binding threads. Basically
due to the excessive intersection point of plain weave, the energy
dissipation is less as compared to the soft structure having less
intersection. The value of energy at the breaking point of the
composite of standard four layer through the thickness woven
structure along the warp and weft are shown in the Table 3.
Under the charpy impact test, the composite in which mod-
ified four layer through the thickness woven structure (auxetic
woven fabric) was used as reinforcement, only two layers of the
composite (auxetic composite) were broken as shown in the
Figure 7. The energy dissipation values of the auxetic composite
were greater as compared to the non-auxetic composite unless
having the same ends/inch, picks/inch, and resin. The greater
energy dissipation values of auxetic composite were due to aux-
etic soft reinforcement.
Conclusion
Standard four layer through the thickness woven fabric showed
positive Poisson’s ratio while the modified four layer through
the thickness woven structure showed negative Poisson’s ratio.
The modified four layer through the thickness woven structure
can be classified as auxetic woven structure. Energy absorption
of auxetic composite was found to be 6.7%, higher as compared
to the non-auxetic composite. Breaking behavior of auxetic
composite is ductile rather than brittle while the standard sam-
ple showed brittle breaking behavior. The modified four layer
through the thickness structure can be recommended for impact
resistance applications. The auxetic composites in which auxetic
woven structure was used as reinforcement showed better impact
resistance and energy absorption as compared to composites in
which non-auxetic four layer through the thickness fabric was
used as reinforcement. In auxetic composite, only two layers
were broken during Charpy impact resistance test, giving high
energy absorption as compared to the non-auxetic reinforced
composite.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCiD
Syed Talha Ali Hamdani   http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3937-8890
Yasir Nawab   http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0456-1369
References
Alderson, K. L., Alderson, A., Smart, G., Simkins, V. R., & Davies, P. J.
(2002). Auxetic polypropylene fibres: Part 1 – Manufacture and
characterisation. Plastics, Rubber and Composites, 31, 344–349.
doi:10.1179/146580102225006495
Bilisik, K. (2010). Multiaxis 3D woven preform and properties of multiaxis
3D woven and 3D orthogonal woven carbon/epoxy composites.
Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, 29, 1173–1186.
doi:10.1177/0731684409103153
Bilisik, K., Karaduman, N. S., & Bilisik, N. E. (2016). Fiber architectures
for composite applications. In S. Rana & R. Fangueiro (Eds.), Fibrous
and textile materials for composite applications (pp. 75–134). Singapore:
Springer.
Bilisik, K., Sahbaz Karaduman, N., Bilisik, N. E., & Bilisik, H. E. (2013).
Three-dimensional fully interlaced woven preforms for composites.
Textile Research Journal, 83, 2060–2084. doi:10.1177/0040517513487791
Ge, Z., & Hu, H. (2013). Innovative three-dimensional fabric structure with
negative poisso’s ratio for composite reinforcement. Textile Research
Journal, 83, 543–550.
Ge, Z., & Hu, H. (2015). A theoretical analysis of deformation behavior
of an innovative 3D auxetic textile structure. The Journal of The Textile
Institute, 106, 101–109. doi:10.1080/00405000.2014.906099
Ge, Z., Hu, H., & Liu, S. (2016). A novel plied yarn structure with negative
Poisson’s ratio. The Journal of The Textile Institute, 107, 578–588. doi:10.
1080/00405000.2015.1049069
Guo, J., Wang, J., Guo, X., Yu, C., & Sun, X. (2014). Preceding vehicle
detection and tracking adaptive to illumination variation in night traffic
scenes based on relevance analysis. Sensors, 14, 15325.

Hamdani, S., & Fernando, A. (2015). The application of a piezo-resistive
cardiorespiratory sensor system in an automobile safety belt. Sensors,
15, 7742–7753.
Hou, X., Hu, H., & Silberschmidt, V. (2012). A novel concept to develop
composite structures with isotropic negative poisson’s ratio: Effects of
random inclusions. Composites Science and Technology, 72, 1848–1854.
doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2012.07.020
Hu, H., Wang, Z., & Liu, S. (2011). Development of auxetic fabrics using
flat knitting technology. Textile Research Journal, 81, 1493–1502.
doi:10.1177/0040517511404594
Jayanty, S., Crowe, J., & Berhan, L. (2011). Auxetic fibre networks and
their composites. Physica Status Solidi (b), 248, 73–81. doi:10.1002/
pssb.201083973
Jiang, L., Gu, B., & Hu, H. (2016). Auxetic composite made with multilayer
orthogonal structural reinforcement. Composite Structures, 135, 23–29.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2015.08.110
Kim, D. S., & Kwon, J. (2016). Moving object detection on a vehicle
mounted back-up camera. Sensors, 16, 23.
Liu, Q. (2006). Literature review: Materials with negative poisson’s ratios
and potential applications to aerospace and defence: DTIC Document.
Australia: DSTO Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
Liu, Y., Hu, H., Lam, J. K. C., & Liu, S. (2010). Negative poisson’s
ratio weft-knitted fabrics. Textile Research Journal, 80, 856–863.
doi:10.1177/0040517509349788
Ravirala, N., Alderson, A., Alderson, K. L., & Davies, P. J. (2005).
Expanding the range of auxetic polymeric products using a novel melt-
spinning route. Physica Status Solidi (b), 242, 653–664. doi:10.1002/
pssb.200460384
The Journal of The Textile Institute   7
Sloan, M., Wright, J., & Evans, K. (2011). The helical auxetic yarn – A
novel structure for composites and textiles; geometry, manufacture and
mechanical properties. Mechanics of Materials, 43, 476–486.
Ugbolue, S. C., Kim, Y. K., Warner, S. B., Fan, Q., Yang, C.-L., Kyzymchuk,
O., & Feng, Y. (2010). The formation and performance of auxetic
textiles. Part I: Theoretical and technical considerations. Journal of the
Textile Institute, 101, 660–667. doi:10.1080/00405000902733790
Ugbolue, S. C., Kim, Y. K., Warner, S. B., Fan, Q., Yang, C. L., Kyzymchuk,
O., … Lord, J. (2011). The formation and performance of auxetic
textiles. Part II: Geometry and structural properties. Journal of the
Textile Institute, 102, 424–433. doi:10.1080/00405000.2010.486183
Wang, Z., & Hu, H. (2014a). 3D auxetic warp-knitted spacer fabrics.
Physica Status Solidi (b), 251, 281–288. doi:10.1002/pssb.201384239
Wang, Z., & Hu, H. (2014b). Auxetic materials and their potential
applications in textiles. Textile Research Journal, 84, 1600–1611.
Wang, Z., Hu, H., & Xiao, X. (2014). Deformation behaviors of three-
dimensional auxetic spacer fabrics. Textile Research Journal, 84, 1361–
1372. doi:10.1177/0040517514521120
Webber, R. S., Alderson, K. L., & Evans, K. E. (2000). Novel variations in
the microstructure of the auxetic microporous ultra-high molecular
weight polyethylene. Part 1: Processing and microstructure. Polymer
Engineering & Science, 40, 1894–1905. doi:10.1002/pen.11321
Zhang, Z., Luo, D., Rasim, Y., Li, Y., Meng, G., Xu, J., & Wang, C. (2016).
A vehicle active safety model: Vehicle speed control based on driver
vigilance detection using wearable EEG and sparse representation.
Sensors, 16, 242 [Online]. doi:10.3390/s16020242