Compression Property of Three-dimensional Honeycomb-structured Fabric Composites

In this study, a kind of honeycomb-structured woven fabric was investigated and the effect of yarn size and fabric layer on the compression property of the fabric-reinforced polyurethane elastomer composites was discussed. The honeycomb-structured fabric was analyzed from the cross-sectional view of combined regular hexagonal cells. The three-layer fabric and four-layer fabric were designed and fabricated using three different finenesses of weft yarns. After that, polyurethane elastomer was used as matrix resin and the 3D honeycomb-structured fabrics were composited. In-plane compression test was conducted to investigate the cushioning property. For samples with doubled weft yarns, such as 3L-2W, the stress value when compressed to 65% of its initial thickness (CV65%), energy absorption (EA), and specific energy absorption (SEA) showed higher values than 3L-1W and 3L-1.5W. It was concluded that the weft yarn fineness had an important effect on the compression property of fabric composites. The thicker yarn size, the stronger cell wall, and the lightweight honeycomb-structure composite was difficult to be compressed. As to the fabric layers, three-layer composites showed a higher compression property than four-layer ones. The reason for this was considered to be the fiber volume content, which was the key parameter affecting composite mechanical properties. As the real fiber volume content in a three-layer fabric composite was higher than that of a four-layer fabric composite, it was resulted in a higher allowable safe stress and energy absorption ability. It can be concluded that the yarn fineness and fabric layers had an influence on the compression property, which can be seemed as the design parameters of honeycomb-structured fabrics for cushion applications.