Development and Characterization of Re-Entrant Auxetic Fibrous Structures for Application in Ballistic Composites

Authors: Rui Magalhães, Sohel Rana, Raul Fangueiro, Clara Gonçalves, Pedro Nunes, Gustavo Dias

Abstract:

Auxetic fibrous structures and composites with negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) have huge potential for application in ballistic protection due to their high energy absorption and excellent impact resistance. In the present research, re-entrant lozenge auxetic fibrous structures were produced through weft knitting technology using high performance polyamide and para-aramid fibres. Fabric structural parameters (e.g. loop length) and machine parameters (e.g. take down load) were varied in order to investigate their influence on the auxetic behaviours of the produced structures. These auxetic structures were then impregnated with two types of polymeric resins (epoxy and polyester) to produce composite materials, which were subsequently characterized for the auxetic behaviour. It was observed that the knitted fabrics produced using the polyamide yarns exhibited NPR over a wide deformation range, which was strongly dependant on the loop length and take down load. The polymeric composites produced from the auxetic fabrics also showed good auxetic property, which was superior in case of the polyester matrix. The experimental results suggested that these composites made from the auxetic fibrous structures can be properly designed to find potential use in the body amours for personal protection applications.

Keywords: Auxetic fabrics, high performance, composites, impact resistance, energy absorption.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1474449

References:

[1] K. E. Evans and K. L. Alderson, “Auxetic materials: the positive side of being negative,” Eng. Sci. Educ. J., pp. 148–154, 2000.
[2] V. R. Simkins, A. Alderson, P. J. Davies and K. L. Alderson, “Single fibre pullout tests on auxetic polymeric fibres,” J. Mater. Sci., vol. 40, pp. 4355–4364, 2005.
[3] C. Thill, J. Etches, I. Bond, K. Potter and P.Weaver, “Morphing skins,” Aeronaut. J., 2008.
[4] Y. Prawoto, “Seeing auxetic materials from the mechanics point of view: a structural review on the negative Poisson's ratio,” Comput. Mater. Sci., vol. 58, pp. 140–153, 2012.
[5] J. R. Wright, M. K. Burns, E. James, M. R. Sloan and K. E. Evans, “On the design and characterisation of low-stiffness auxetic yarns and fabrics,” Text. Res. J., vol. 82, pp. 645–654, 2012.
[6] T. A. A. Silva, T. H. Panzera, L. C. Brandão, C. H. Lauro, K. Boba and F. Scarpa, “Preliminary investigations on auxetic structures based on recycled rubber,” Phys. Status Solidi B, vol. 249, pp. 1353–1358, 2012.
[7] S. Pichandi, S. Rana, D. Oliveira, R. Fangueiro and J. Xavier, “Development of novel auxetiic structures based on braided composites,” Mater. Des., vol. 61, pp. 286–295, 2014.
[8] F. Steffens, S. Rana and R. Fangueiro, “Development of novel auxetic textile structures using high performance fibres,” Materials & Design, vol. 106, pp. 81-89, 2016.
[9] P. Subramani, S. Rana, B. Ghiassi, R. Fangueiro, D. V. Oliveira, P. B. Lourenco, and J. Xavier, “Development and characterization of novel auxetic structures based on re-entrant hexagon design produced from braided composites,” Composites Part B: Engineering, vol. 93, pp.132-142, 2016.
[10] R. Magalhaes, P. Subramani, T. Lisner, S. Rana, B. Ghiassi, R. Fangueiro, D. V. Oliveira, and P. B. Lourenco, "Development, characterization and analysis of auxetic structures from braided composites and study the influence of material and structural parameters," Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, vol. 87, pp. 86-97, 2016.
[11] J. R. Wright, M. R. Sloan and K. E. Evans, “Tensile properties of helical auxetic structures: a numerical study,” J. Appl. Phys., vol. 108, 2010.
[12] K. K. Saxena, R. Das, and E. P. Calius, "Three decades of auxetics research− materials with negative Poisson's ratio: a review," Advanced Engineering Materials, vol. 18, no. 11, pp. 1847-1870, 2016.
[13] M. R. Sloan, J.Wright and K. Evans, “The helical auxetic yarn – a novel structure for composites and textiles; geometry, manufacture and mechanical properties,” Mech. Mater., vol. 43, pp. 476–486, 2011.
[14] S. C. Ugbolue, Y. K. Kim, S. B.Warner, Q. Fan, C.-L. Yang, O. Kyzymchuk and Y. Feng, “The formation and performance of auxetic textiles. Part I: theoretical and technical considerations,” J.Text. Inst., vol. 101, pp. 660–667, 2010.
[15] S. C. Ugbolue, Y. K. Kim, S. B. Warner, Q. Fan, C.-L. Yang, O. Kyzymchuk, Y. Feng and J. Lord, “The formation and performance of auxetic textiles. Part II: geometry and structural properties,” J. Text. Inst., vol. 102, pp. 424–433, 2011.
[16] Y. Liu, H. Hu, J. K. C. Lam and S. Liu, “Negative Poisson's Ratio Weft-knitted Fabrics,” Text. Res. J., vol. 80, pp. 856–863, 2010.
[17] H. Hu, Z. Wang and S. Liu, “Development of auxetic fabrics using flat knitting technology,” Text. Res. J., vol. 81, pp. 1493–1502, 2011.
[18] K. Alderson, A. Alderson, S. Anand, V. Simkins, S. Nazare and N. Ravirala, “Auxetic warp knit textile structures,” Phys. Status Solidi B, vol. 249, pp. 1322–1329, 2012.
[19] Z. Ge and H. Hu, “Innovative three-dimensional fabric structure with negative Poisson's ratio for composite reinforcement,” Text. Res. J., vol. 83, pp. 543–550, 2013.
[20] Z. Wang and H. Hu, “3D auxetic warp-knitted spacer fabrics,” Phys. Status Solidi B, vol. 251, pp. 281–288, 2014.