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Modelling of the structure and the properties of 3D warp knitted spacer fabrics and experimental evaluation

Subject Area Lightweight Construction, Textile Technology
Mechanical Properties of Metallic Materials and their Microstructural Origins
Production Automation and Assembly Technology
Term from 2015 to 2025
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272669503
 
Final Report Year 2025

Final Report Abstract

Spacer fabrics are three-dimensional integral textile structures, consisting of two warp knitted textile layers, which are connected by vertical monofil threads. Their structural mechanical properties, like compression behavior and permeability, allow for numerous applications in light-weight construction, in sport and medical textiles, as well as in the automotive industry. By systematic choice of utilized materials, of the complex 3D textile topology and the manufacturing process, these properties can be optimized for the specific application. Typically, this optimization is done in form of a classical design process via the trial-and-error principle. A mathematical multi-scale model for the computation of relevant structural mechanical properties of spacer fabrics was developed, with which these costly design process can be accelerated by simulations and with which the future development of spacer fabrics can be facilitated. Our derived and implemented numerical methods are based on the mathematical concepts of dimension reduction and homogenization and were validated and extended iteratively by comparative experiments. Aim of project phase I was the automatic generation of representative virtual spacer fabrics on the yarnscale. Industry standard input formats for the knitted surfaces and mechanical characterization of the employed mono- and multifilament in form of force-strain curves serve as a simulation input. Utilizing the finite element method (FEM), effective tensile and bending stiffness of the virtual structures on the textile-scale are attained. Furthermore, infiltration properties and permeability are determined by fluid-flow simulations. Two research focuses were in investigated in project phase II. The first topic is the prediction and control of compression resistance of the textile via local constriction by seams. This research question is in particular of interest in the application as padding and damping material. The second focus was on the modeling of flow-induced displacement of the spacer fabric in application as a filter medium. Bending of textile layers are expected due to jumps in fluid pressure during filtration applications. We derived an effective macro-scale model for the fluid-structure interaction with the complex textile structure, analyzed it mathematically and implemented it using FEM solvers. The utilized multi-scale method incorporates the effective mechanical properties computed in project phase I as model parameters. Therefore, an optimization of textile manufacturing parameters to attain desired infiltration properties of the spacer fabric in application can be performed.

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