Mechanical Modeling of Fabrics in Bending

Abstract

A fabric bending model that includes contributions from nonlinear elasticity, and viscous and Coulomb friction with hysteretic effects is presented. The model allows the recovery of the loading, unloading and hysteresis behaviors observed in the Kawabata evaluation system (KES) bending tests and provides the ability to simulate a continuum of property curves and to extrapolate to loading conditions not covered in the KES regimen. Model results are compared to experimental results. It is found that hysteretic behavior is observed due to friction between the yarns, and that nonlinear elastic behavior arises from jamming of the yarns and their subsequent compression.