Fabrication of bamboo-structure hollow polyester monofilaments for extraordinary compression properties

Abstract Owing to its special structure, bamboo can withstand larger load in nature. The novel structure of bamboo is a great example for exploring materials with excellent mechanical properties, though limited research in this area has been reported so far. In textiles, monofilaments with outstanding compression property are desired in the development of warp-knitted spacer fabrics for a range of applications. Herein, we use 3D printing method to fabricate polyester (PET) bamboo-structure monofilaments and study their compression properties. It has been found that bamboo-structure hollow monofilament undertakes more load per unit mass than solid and continuous hollow monofilaments, and the value of load per unit mass increases with the increase of the hollow part. FEM analysis has discovered that the compression behavior and the compression properties of the bamboo-structure monofilament are in accordance with that of spacer monofilament in warp-knitted spacer fabrics. Warp-knitted spacer monofilaments prepared from bamboo-structure hollow monofilament with a high percentage of hollow part undertake more load per unit mass, providing new opportunities on the design and development of warp-knitted spacer monofilament towards different applications.