Abstract:
Despite their long-time existence and significant capabilities,
computational modeling, simulation, and design tools have been underutilized
for textiles in general, specifically limiting the ability of knitted
textiles to be widely deployed and to reach their full industrial potential
in advanced functional fabrics and garments. These computational tools
require a robust representation and efficient evaluation of the spatial,
material, and physical properties of textile structures. An example of an
efficient modeling method for knitted fabrics is TopoKnit, a
process-oriented representation for capturing the topology of weft-knitted
textiles. In this paper, we extend TopoKnit and present new algorithms that
may be used to determine additional topological structures and assess the
structural integrity and stability of knitted textiles modeled by this
fundamental data structure. We compare our results with outputs from a
commercial software system to confirm the effectiveness and validity of our
algorithms. These new capabilities provide a foundation for open
technologies that can accurately model and predict the geometric and
mechanical properties/behaviors of knitted textiles. They will support the
development of computational design and analysis tools that will obviate the
expensive and wasteful trial-and-error process of knitting and testing
actual fabrics in the preproduction phase of textile manufacturing.
