The effect of elastic yarn tension and alignment on the tensile and compression characteristics of weft-knitted spacer fabrics for cushioning applications

Abstract

Spacer fabrics are good candidates as cushioning materials in protective clothing and equipment. They demonstrate good compressive properties and energy absorption, which makes them suitable for human body protection. The cushioning performance of these fabrics is highly affected by the compression characteristics of the fabric. This research aims to improve the compression properties of spacer fabrics by incorporating elastic yarns with various tensions and alignments in the surface layers of the fabric. The results reveal that the presence of spandex yarn in the surface layers of the spacer fabric, as well as increasing the tension of spandex yarn, enhances the absorbed energy and dissipated compression energy while decreasing the resiliency, thickness change, and thickness recovery of the fabric. Moreover, increasing the number of miss stitches of spandex yarn decreases the energy absorption and dissipated compression energy while it increases the thickness change and thickness recovery of the fabric. Eventually, the utilization of elastic yarns under higher tension and fewer miss stitches in the surface layers of spacer fabrics improve the cushioning function of spacer fabrics.