Performance Enhancement of 3D Spacer Fabrics via Innovative Spacer Stitching sewing technology

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Hassan Saeed
• Subject Area: Lightweight Construction, Textile Technology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 516003964

Spacer fabrics (SF) are unique due to their three-dimensional structure, offering properties like low area and bulk densities, diverse thicknesses, high comfort, thermo-physiological benefits, and customizable tensile, elastic, compression, and permeability characteristics. These qualities make SFs suitable for applications in protective clothing, transportation, geo-textiles, building materials, packaging, military, medicine, and sports. Their exceptional features cannot be matched by conventional textiles, making the preservation of their three-dimensional structure and functional properties, such as compressibility, breathability, shock absorbency and thermal properties. Among the joining methods for SF, sewing stands out because it maintains its porous structure in joining zones, preserving airflow and moisture-wicking capabilities. However, state-of-the-art sewing processes introduce compressions along stitch lines, locally deforming the SF, weakening its mechanical properties, and altering its functionality. The impacts of joining technologies on SFs have gained very little attention. Therefore, the negative impacts of joining technologies are far less known than SF benefits. The ongoing DFG-funded project provided a firm foundation to further develop innovative Spacer Stitching sewing technology to address the issue of compressions along stitch lines and its manufacturing suitability with SF. This technology is an innovative and incomparable alternative that preserves the SF's 3D structure, avoiding compression during sewing, and enabling customizable stitch heights which itself is a very unique feature. Unlike conventional industrial sewing methods, Spacer Stitching prevents structural deformation, maintaining the unique properties of SFs intact. Early investigations of spacer stitching with SFs have demonstrated promising results, highlighting its potential for producing uncompressed stitch formations while achieving adjustable thickness and variable stitch heights. This sewing innovation has the potential to significantly advance textile engineering by improving breathability, compressibility, heat regulation, and durability in SF-based products. It is highly desired to proceed systematically with these investigations and establish the benefits of spacer stitching to create highly engineered and functional products made of SF. Therefore, the next phase of DFG funding is applied. The requested DFG funding extension is crucial to realize the broader vision of Spacer Stitching technology. Continued research will enable the exploration of its capabilities, establishing its benefits across diverse application areas. This next phase of investigation aims to lay the foundation for a market-relevant technology with both economic and social significance, ensuring Spacer Stitching's widespread adoption in advanced textile engineering solutions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants