Original article

Textile Research Journal

2016, Vol. 86(20) 2225–2235

An experimental study on vibration ! The Author(s) 2016

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isolation performance of weft-knitted DOI: 10.1177/0040517515622149
trj.sagepub.com
spacer fabrics

Fuxing Chen, Yanping Liu and Hong Hu

Abstract
This paper presents an experimental study on the vibration isolation performance of weft-knitted spacer fabrics under
forced harmonic excitation. The weft-knitted spacer fabrics with two different thicknesses were first designed by varying
the linking distance of the spacer monofilament and fabricated using an electronic flat knitting machine. Then, their
vibration isolation performance was tested under forced vibration condition via sinusoidal sweeps from low to high
frequencies. The typical acceleration transmissibility curve and effects of fabric thickness, load mass and excitation level
were discussed in detail. The results obtained show that the thicker spacer fabric has a lower resonance frequency than
the thinner fabric due to lower stiffness, and thus can isolate the vibration at a lower frequency level. The results also
show that changing the load mass and excitation level changes the loading conditions of the fabric structure, and thus also
changes fabric stiffness and vibration isolation performance due to nonlinear behavior of spacer fabrics. It is expected
that this study could provide some useful information to promote the application of weft-knitted spacer fabrics for
vibration isolation.

Keywords
spacer fabric, stiffness, vibration isolation, resonance frequency

The human body is sensitive to vibrational environ- Because of this structural feature, knitted spacer fabrics
ments coming from electrical and pneumatic powered have been developed for a number of applications such as
rotary tools and processes in mining, quarrying, compression bandages and wound dressings,6–10 sound
demolition and road construction,1 which may cause attenuation,11,12 concrete reinforcement,13,14 geotex-
discomfort and disease. For example, workers with tiles,15,16 solar thermal insulation,17 impact protection18–20
considerable exposure to hand-transmitted vibrations and piezoelectric effect for energy harvesting.21 Knitted
may develop hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) spacer fabrics with unusual behaviors, such as negative
such as vibration-induced white finger (VWF) and per- Poisson’s ratio22–24 and negative stiffness,25 have also
ipheral neurological disorders. To buffer vibration been developed. There is no doubt that knitted spacer
effects on the human body, passive anti-vibration mate- fabrics can also be developed to reduce the magnitudes
rials such as rubber and polyurethane foams have been of sportive and occupational vibrations due to their
made into car cushions, anti-vibration gloves and so
on.2–5 However, these conventional anti-vibration
materials are not very comfortable due to their low
air and moisture management. Knitted spacer fabrics
could be an alternative choice for vibration isolation Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
because they can provide better thermophysiological Hong Kong
comfort for the human body.
Corresponding author:
Knitted spacer fabrics are a type of sandwiched textile Hong Hu, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
structure consisting of two outer layers that are connected University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
but kept apart by a spacer layer of monofilaments. Email: [email protected]
2226 Textile Research Journal 86(20)

versatility and good mechanical performance. However, Preparation of fabric samples

relevant studies are still very limited.
At present, there have been very few studies con-
Design of fabric structure
ducted on the vibration properties and isolation perfor- Due to the limited distance between two needle systems
mance of knitted spacer fabrics. Blaga et al.26,27 used in a weft knitting machine, a special fabric structure
impact tests to study the dynamic response of both was first suggested to fabricate thicker weft-knitted
warp- and weft-knitted spacer fabrics along different spacer fabrics by employing a longer linking distance
fabric directions based on the transmissibility curves of spacer monofilaments to knit the spacer layer and
obtained from the fast Fourier transform. Arabzadeh elastic yarns to knit the outer layers in this study.
et al.28 built mathematical models for the free vibration As shown in Figure 1(a), the suggested spacer structure
of multi-layer warp-knitted spacer fabrics under impact is constructed of two outer layers knitted with elastic
force. They found that decreasing the fineness and yarns in single jersey and a spacer layer knitted with
length of monofilaments and increasing their density tuck loops using monofilaments in an ‘‘X’’ shape.
could increase the transmitted force. Liu and Hu29 stu- As the outer layers are knitted with elastic yarns, they
died the vibration isolation properties of warp-knitted will shrink after a steaming treatment, causing the
spacer fabric top-loaded with a mass, and found that inclined monofilaments to rotate to the thickness direc-
the resonance frequency measured by the vibration test tion of the fabric structure and thus making the fabric
matched with the quasi-static compression curve. thickness increase, as shown in Figure 1(b). If different
However, these studies were mostly focused on warp- linking distances of spacer monofilaments are adopted,
knitted spacer fabrics. Until now, studies on the vibra- spacer fabrics with different thicknesses can be easily rea-
tion isolation performance of weft-knitted spacer fab- lized. In fact, this design concept has been used in the
rics are still needed. development of spacer fabrics with negative stiffness.25
This paper presents an experimental study on the In order to obtain a spacer fabric that is as thick as
vibration isolation performance of weft-knitted spacer possible, a linking distance of 20 needles, which is the
fabric under forced harmonic excitation. Compared maximum distance for a normal knitting process, was
with warp-knitted spacer fabrics, weft-knitted fabrics first selected after a series of preliminary trials, as shown
have a greater extensibility and can better conform to in Figure 2(a). Beyond this distance, knitting becomes very
the shape of an object due to the loop nature of weft- difficult as needles for tucking could not catch the mono-
knitted stitches. In addition, elastic yarns can be easily filaments well, causing knitting defects. On the other hand,
used for knitting weft-knitted spacer fabrics to increase in order to study the effect of the fabric thickness, the
fabric elasticity. As a result, they are more suitable for linking distance was reduced to 12 needles to obtain a
producing products for vibration isolation, such as anti- thinner spacer fabric but still having sufficient thickness
vibration gloves. On the other hand, it is well known for good vibration isolation for comparison, as shown
that the main approach to achieving good vibration iso- Figure 2(b). The two fabric structures were named
lation is to reduce the dynamic stiffness of isolation Spacer-20h and Spacer-12h, where the number indicates
material. Previous studies25,30 have already shown that the floating distance of each monofilament between two
a thicker weft-knitted spacer fabric has lower stiffness. tucking points on the same needle bed, and ‘‘h’’ indicates
Hence, to reduce the stiffness of weft-knitted spacer fab- only half numbers of needles knitting tuck stitches. From
rics for obtaining a low resonance frequency in vibration Figure 2, it can be seen that the tuck positions are evenly
isolation, the use of thicker spacer fabrics is recom- distributed. It should be pointed out that as the cross-over
mended. However, the thickness of weft-knitted spacer structure of the spacer monofilaments in the ‘‘X’’ shape
fabrics is usually low due to the limitation in adjusting along the course direction makes the fabric structure
the distance between two needle systems in a weft knit- balanced under compression loads, the transverse shift
ting machine. Therefore, relatively thick knitted spacer along the courses of the fabric does not arise. It is possible
fabrics are realized by a proper fabric design in this to let all needles knit tuck stitches. However, twofold
study. In order to test the vibration isolation perfor- monofilaments limit the shrinkage of the outer layers
mance of these spacer fabrics, a vibration test system during the steaming treatment, resulting in relatively low
with a mass loaded on the upper layer of spacer fabric fabric thickness, which limits the range of displacement
was used. The effects of different factors, such as fabric under vibration. Therefore, the structure with all needles
thickness, load mass and excitation level, on the vibra- knitting tuck stitches was not adopted in this study.
tion transmissibility of the mass-spacer fabric system are
discussed. It is expected that this study could strengthen
Fabrication of fabric samples
the understanding of the vibration behavior of weft-
knitted spacer fabrics, and provide some useful informa- The above proposed fabrics were knitted on a 14 gauge
tion to promote their applications in anti-vibration. STOLL CMS 822 computerized flat knitting machine.
Chen et al. 2227

Figure 1. Design concept of weft-knitted spacer fabric structure: (a) before steaming treatment; (b) after steaming treatment.

Figure 2. Fabric structures with different linking distance of spacer monofilaments: (a) Spacer-20h; (b) Spacer-12h.

While the two outer layers were knitted with single direction, spacer monofilaments have a crossed struc-
jersey structure using one 100D nylon multifilament ture. However, along the wale direction, spacer mono-
yarn and one 30D Spandex/70D nylon covering yarn filaments have a curved shape. Moreover, linking
together, the spacer layer was knitted with 0.12 mm points A and B of each monofilament with two outer
polyester monofilament. The NP value, which refers layers are not located on the same vertical line. This
to cam setting, was set at 9.0 for knitting the spacer dislocation between A and B should be taken into con-
layer, and 11.0 for knitting the two outer layers. After sideration when preparing the fabric samples for vibra-
knitting, fabric samples at their free state were sub- tion testing.
jected to a steaming treatment with a steam iron. The
temperature of the steam iron was kept at around 50 C
to avoid possible yarn damages. Elastic yarns in the
Fabric lamination
outer layers shrank during the steaming treatment, As mentioned before, all the monofilaments have a
resulting in fabric thickening. After the steaming treat- curved shape in the wale direction view. The formation
ment, the fabric samples were further relaxed under an of this shape mainly comes from the bending moments
environmental condition of 20 C and 65% relative developed at the linking points by tuck loops. As shown
humidity (RH) for one week. The characteristics of in Figures 3(c) and (d), the linking points A and B for
the two fabric samples Spacer-20h and Spacer-12h each monofilament are not located on the same vertical
after relaxation are listed in Table 1. It can be seen line in the fabric thickness direction. The main reason is
that the loop densities of the two fabrics are similar, that the courses where points A and B are located are
but Spacer-20h has greater areal mass and fabric thick- not knitted simultaneously. As points A and B of each
ness than Spacer-12h. monofilament are not on the same vertical line, the
Figure 3 shows the cross-sectional views of the as- transverse instability could take place along the wale
fabricated weft-knitted spacer fabrics. It can be found direction when a single spacer fabric is subjected to a
that the cross-sectional views along the course direction vibration test under a loaded mass. In order to circum-
and the wale direction are different. Along the course vent the undesirable transverse shift along the wale
2228 Textile Research Journal 86(20)

Table 1. The characteristics of the two weft-knitted spacer fabrics

Course density Wale density Areal mass Thickness

Fabric code (wales/cm) (courses/cm) (g/m2) (mm)

Spacer-20h 7.15 (0.12) 26.10 (0.91) 1020.15 (21.99) 12.01 (0.17)

Spacer-12h 6.66 (0.06) 25.90 (0.42) 673.27 (31.33) 6.66 (0.18)
Note: Standard deviations are given in parentheses.

Figure 3. Cross-sectional views of spacer fabrics produced: (a) and (c) Spacer-20h; (b) and (d) Spacer-12h.

direction of the spacer fabric structure during vibration (Kun Shan) Co., Ltd was used to measure the vibration
tests, two identical spacer fabrics were bonded transmissibility of laminated weft-knitted spacer fab-
together using a double-sided adhesive tape, as shown rics. The system mainly consists of an electromagnetic
in Figure 4(a). Thus, point A and point C are located vibration shaker equipped with a vertically connected
on the same vertical line. In this case, the topmost layer 35 cm  35 cm square platform made of aluminum, a
and the base layer of the laminated fabric can maintain digital vibration controller VCS 102, a high power
opposite to each other under the mass loaded, as shown amplifier and protector, and a cooling blower. The
in Figure 4(b). As two fabrics are bonded together, the schematic of the system is shown in Figure 5. The con-
relative slip between the two fabrics can be avoided. In troller VCS 102 has one output channel (Output) and
this way, the transverse motion of the spacer fabric has two input channels (Input 1 and Input 2), and generates
no interference on the vertical motion of the mass- voltage signals transmitted through the power amplifier
spacer fabric system. to drive the shaker platform to vibrate at predefined
frequencies and excitation levels. Then, acceleration
signals measured by two accelerometers respectively
Vibration test
mounted on the shaker platform (Accelerometer 1)
A vibration test system EM-400F3K-30N80 manufac- and the load mass (Accelerometer 2) were sent back
tured by the King Design Instrument Technology through Input 1 and Input 2 to the controller for
Chen et al. 2229

data acquisition. It should be noted that Accelerometer of 50.9 mV/g and an acceleration range of 100g,
1, Input 1, Controller and Output form a feedback where g is the gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s2).
control system to ensure that the shaker platform The other accelerometer, PCB 352A56, with a sensitiv-
vibrates correctly according to the predefined profile. ity of 101.7 mV/g and an acceleration range of 50 g was
The controller was also connected to the test software adhesively mounted on the center of the load mass
of a PC for waveform display and analysis. The cooling using petro wax.
blower cooled down the shaker for safety purposes. The size of the fabric sample and that of load mass
The mounting of two accelerometers for measuring were selected by referring to the International Standard
the acceleration transmissibility of the mass-spacer BS EN ISO 13753:2008.31 According to this standard,
fabric system is shown in Figure 6. The spacer fabric the material to be tested shall contain a circular area of
to be tested is placed on the center of the shaker plat- no less than 45 mm in radius; in addition, the load
form and top-loaded with a metallic mass. The accel- block shall be a circular cylinder with a radius of
erometer stud-mounted on the shaker platform was a 45 mm and a mass of 2.5 kg. However, due to the
Brüel & Kjær 4514-004 accelerometer with a sensitivity nearly orthotropic material properties of the weft-
knitted spacer fabric structure, it would be appropriate
to have fabric samples cut into a square shape rather
than a circular one. Consequently, spacer fabric sam-
ples used were cut into a size of 150 mm  150 mm. In
order to weaken the edge effect and avoid mass eccen-
tricity, square steel blocks with a surface area smaller
than that of spacer fabric samples (90 mm  90 mm),
but with different masses, were used as the load masses.
The shaker was excited by sinusoidal sweeps from 4
to 500 Hz with a sweep rate of 1.0 Oct/min. It should be
noted that the sweep rate has an influence on the trans-
missibility behavior of fabric. With a high sweep rate,
the response of the system may have not yet reached
Figure 4. Schematic of fabric structure with two identical steady state before the driving frequency moves to the
fabrics laminated together: (a) before compression; (b) under next magnitude. With a low sweep rate, however, the
compression. amount of time spent becomes greatly prolonged, thus

Figure 5. Schematic of the vibration testing system.

2230 Textile Research Journal 86(20)

Figure 6. Photo of the mass-spacer fabric system and the mounting of two accelerometers.

bringing another problem that involves the fatigue and 5

viscoelasticity of materials. Consequently, a compromise
4. 5
Acceleration transmissibility T (g)/(g)

between both requirements for the sweep rate is needed Resonance peak bending to the left
(fr = 15.2 Hz, Tmax = 4.1)
4
to ensure the reliability of results. After a series of trials,
it was found that a sweep rate of 1.0 Oct/min could 3. 5

ensure the reliability of results for this kind of knitted 3

spacer fabrics. During each sweep process, the excitation 2. 5
level was kept constant. Three excitation levels, namely, 2 AMPLIFICATION REGION
T>1
0.1, 0.2 or 0.3g, were selected. It should be noted that Isolation begins at
1. 5 fc = 30.3 Hz
excitation amplitude decreased as the driving frequency
1
increases. Five different load masses from 1 to 5 kg were
ISOLATION REGION
used. Acceleration transmissibility values at desired fre- 0. 5 T<1

quencies were obtained during tests. Three replications 0 1 2

10 10
were carried out for each testing condition. Excitation frequency (Hz)

Quasi-static compression test Figure 7. Typical acceleration transmissibility curve for Spacer-
12h under 0.3g excitation level and 2 kg load mass.
In order to better understand how the nonlinear beha-
vior of spacer fabrics affects the vibration isolation per-
formance, a quasi-static compression test was also As shown in Figure 7, a typical curve of T as a function
conducted for the laminated fabrics on an Instron of the excitation frequency obtained for Spacer-12h
tester 5566 installed with two compression platens. when tested under 0.3g excitation level and 2 kg load
The compression speed was set as 12 mm/min and the mass is selected as an example to explain the vibration
maximum compression strain was chosen as 60% of the isolation performance of this type of spacer fabrics.
original fabric thickness. The sample size used was Although the tests were conducted from 4 to 500 Hz,
90 mm  90 mm, the same as that of load blocks. all the acceleration transmissibility curves shown after-
wards are only until 100 Hz to get a better demonstra-
Results and discussion tion. From Figure 7, it can be seen that under low
excitation frequencies, the acceleration transmitted
Typical transmissibility curve from the platform to the mass approximately equals
The vibration isolation performance of the weft-knitted the excitation level. However, with increasing the exci-
spacer fabrics was evaluated by the acceleration trans- tation frequency, the transmissibility rapidly increases
missibility T, which is defined as the ratio of the accel- until the resonance peak. The transmissibility reading
eration of the load mass to that of the shaker platform. above one unit (T 4 1) indicates that the vibration is
Chen et al. 2231

(a) 7 (b) 7
1 kg Spacer-20h 1 kg Spacer-12h
2 kg Spacer-20h 2 kg Spacer-12h
6 3 kg Spacer-20h 6 3 kg Spacer-12h
Transmissibility T (g)/(g)

Transmissibility T (g)/(g)
4 kg Spacer-20h 4 kg Spacer-12h
5 5 kg Spacer-20h 5 5 kg Spacer-12h

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 1 2
0 1 2
10 10 10 10
Excitation frequency (Hz) Excitation frequency (Hz)
(c) 80
fr Spacer-20h
70 fr Spacer-12h
fc Spacer-20h
60
and f c (Hz)

fc Spacer-12h
50

40

30
r
f

20

10

1 2 3 4 5
Load mass (kg)

Figure 8. (a) and (b) Transmissibility curves under 0.1g excitation level with load mass varied. (c) Variation of fr and fc with load mass.

amplified. At resonance frequency fr (15.2 Hz), the the curve shape near the resonance peak is asymmetric
transmissibility of the mass-spacer fabric system and bent to the left-hand side, indicating that the mass-
reaches the peak value Tmax (4.1). This means that spacer fabric system is a nonlinear one. Although in a
acceleration is amplified by 4.1 times. Further elevating nonlinear system, the calculation of fr becomes more
the excitation frequency above fr , the transmissibility complicated, fr is still affected by kd and m. Besides,
starts to decline. The frequency at which the transmis- under a low excitation level, such a mass-spacer fabric
sibility equals one unit (T ¼ 1) is called the cross-over system can be assumed as a linear one. The reduction of
frequency fc (30.3 Hz), which defines the boundary fr implies either decreasing kd or increasing the load
between the amplification region and the isolation mass. Since the load mass is predefined by the working
region. Vibration isolation (T 5 1) takes effect when condition, decreasing kd should be the only approach to
the excitation frequency is larger than fc . a better isolation performance.
To achieve a wider isolation region, the resonance Therefore, an ideal isolator should keep the dynamic
frequency fr should be reduced. In a linear single- stiffness as low as possible. However, due to the non-
degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system, the curve shape linearity of weft-knitted spacer fabric, the value of kd is
near the resonance peak looks symmetric. In such a affected by the load mass, the fabric thickness and the
system,32 fr is related to the dynamic stiffness kd and excitation level. For this reason, the following sections
qffiffiffiffi
1 kd will discuss the effects of these factors on the isolation
the load mass m, and is defined by equation fr ¼ 2 m. performance of the mass-spacer fabric system. For
Observing the curve in Figure 7, it can be found that better comparison, two physical quantities, the
2232 Textile Research Journal 86(20)

resonance frequency fr and the cross-over frequency fc , The above phenomena can be explained by stiffness
are selected. Since the amplification region is to be changes of spacer fabrics when the load mass changes.
avoided during the use, the peak transmissibility Tmax As shown in Figure 9, the quasi-static compression
is not a concern in this study. curves of both laminated Spacer-20h and Spacer-12h
are nonlinear, which indicates that their static stiffness
ks cannot be kept constant under different compression
Effects of fabric thickness and load mass loads. It can be seen that although the compression
Under the same excitation level, the effect of the fabric curves of the two spacer fabrics are very different, the
thickness on the vibration isolation performance also variation trends of their static stiffness ks are very similar.
depends on the load mass due to nonlinear behaviors of This is that ks first increases at the very beginning stage,
spacer fabrics under both static and dynamic loading then slightly decreases and finally rapidly increases due to
conditions. In other words, the spacer fabrics will be the compaction of the fabric structure under high com-
deformed at different compression strains and will have pression loads. However, the ks values of the two fabrics
different stiffness when the load mass changes. In this are different. It should be pointed out that under the
regard, the effects of the fabric thickness and load mass vibration condition, the dynamic stiffness kd should be
are discussed together in this section. For ease of dis- used to explain the vibration isolation performance of
cussion, only the testing results for one excitation level spacer fabrics. According to the quasi-static compression
of acceleration are presented here. The effect of the curves in Figure 9, it can be derived that the compression
excitation level will be discussed in the next section. behavior of two weft-knitted spacer fabrics is similar to
Figures 8(a) and (b) respectively show the transmis- that of damping materials. Therefore, their dynamic stiff-
sibility curves of Spacer-20h and Spacer-12h with dif- ness kd should be different from their static stiffness ks
ferent load masses when the excitation level is kept at due to history-dependent mechanical properties under
0.1g. It can be seen that the resonance peaks of the vibration condition. In spite of the nonlinear compressive
transmissibility curves shift to the left-hand side when force–displacement relationship of spacer fabrics, under
the load mass increases. This implicates that fr and fc 0.1g excitation level, the vibration is so localized that the
decrease with the increase of the load mass mass-spacer fabric
qffiffiffiffi system could be treated as linear.
(Figure 8(c)). However, as shown in Figure 8(a), an
Using fr ¼ 2 kmd , the values of kd for the two spacer
1
exceptional case is found for Spacer-20h when the
load mass increases from 4 to 5 kg. In this case, the fabrics with five load masses were calculated and are
transmissibility curve with 5 kg load mass shifts back listed in Table 2. It can be seen that the kd values of
to the right-hand side instead of shifting to the left- Spacer-20h are lower than those of Spacer-12h. This
hand side, resulting in a slight increase of fr and fc , as explains why fr and fc decrease with the increase of the
shown in Figure 8(c). When observing the effect of the fabric thickness and the thicker spacer fabric has better
fabric thickness, it can be found that fr and fc of Spacer- vibration isolation than the thinner fabric.
20h are smaller than those of Spacer-12h, indicating The variation trends of kd also explain why fr and fc
that fr and fc decrease with the increase of the fabric decrease with the increase of the load mass, because the
thickness. kd values also decrease with the increase of the load
mass. The exceptional case for Spacer-20h, in which fr
and fc increases when the load mass increases from 4 to
100 9 5 kg, can be also explained by the kd value change and
Spacer-20h
90 Spacer-20h ks 8 static compression curve. As shown in Figure 9, when
80 Spacer-12h 7 the load mass increases from 4 to 5 kg, Spacer-20h
Compression force (N)

Spacer-12h ks changes into the compaction stage with a rapid increase

70 6
Stiffness (N/m)

60 5 of stiffness. As the effect of the increase of stiffness is

50 Load mass 5kg 4
higher than that of the increase of load mass, fr and fc
40 4kg 3
increase when the load mass increases from 4 to 5 kg.
3kg Table 2 also confirms that the kd values increase when
30 2
2kg
the load mass increases from 4 to 5 kg.
20 1

10 1kg 0
4

0
x 10
-1 Effect of excitation level
0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014
Compression displacement (m) The previous section discussed the effects of both the
fabric thickness and load mass with a fixed excitation
Figure 9. Quasi-static compression curves (solid line ‘‘—’’) and level. In this section, the effect of excitation level is
stiffness curves ks (dashed line ‘‘- -’’) of spacer fabrics. discussed with a fixed load mass. Figures 10(a) and
Chen et al. 2233

(b) respectively show the transmissibility curves of peaks become bent to the left-hand side when the
Spacer-20h and Spacer-12h with different excitation excitation level increases, indicating that the mass-
levels when the load mass is kept at 2 kg. It can be spacer fabric system becomes softened. As the increase
seen that the resonance peaks of the transmissibility of softening implicates a decrease of the dynamic stiff-
curves shift to the left-hand side when the excitation ness kd , fr and fc decrease with the increase of the exci-
level increases. This implicates that fr and fc decrease tation level.
with the increase of the excitation level (Figure 10(c)). From Figure 10(c), it can also be found that the fr and
From Figures 10(a) and (b), it can be also found that fc values of Spacer-20h are lower than those of Spacer-12h
the shapes of transmissibility curves at the resonance for all the excitation levels, which confirms again that
the thicker spacer fabric has better vibration isolation per-
formance than the thinner spacer fabric. The result in
Table 2. kd values of the mass-spacer fabric system for a fixed Figure 10(c) also shows that the difference in fr and fc
excitation level at 0.1g between the two spacer fabrics increase with the increase
of excitation level. This may be explained by the fact that at
Load mass (kg) 1 2 3 4 5 low excitation level, the dynamic loads applied to the fabric
Spacer-20h 5.26 3.69 2.32 0.74 1.32 are relatively smaller and the two fabrics work at their low
kd (104 N/m) deformation regions where the difference of their stiffness is
Spacer-12h 7.03 4.96 3.65 2.62 2.40
not high. However, with increasing the excitation level, the

(a) (b) 0.1g Spacer-12h

0.1g Spacer-20h 5
5
0.2g Spacer-20h 0.2g Spacer-12h
0.3g Spacer-20h 0.3g Spacer-12h
Transmissibility T (g)/(g)
Transmissibility T (g)/(g)

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 1 2
0 1 2
10 10 10 10
Excitation frequency (Hz) Excitation frequency (Hz)

(c)
45 fr Spacer-20h
fr Spacer-12h
40
fc Spacer-20h
and f c (Hz)

fc Spacer-12h
35

30

25
r
f

20

15

10
0.1g 0.2g 0.3g
Excitation level

Figure 10. (a) and (b) Transmissibility curves under 2 kg load mass with excitation level varied. (c) Variation of fr and fc with excitation level.
2234 Textile Research Journal 86(20)

dynamic loads applied to the fabric increase and the two Council of HK Special Administrative Region Government
fabrics will work in different deformation regions where (Grant No. 516011).
their stiffness becomes more important. The detailed expla-
nation needs a further theoretical analysis by considering
the nonlinear softening of the mass-spacer fabric system, References
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Declaration of conflicting interests
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Funding 15. Han F, Chen H, Zhang W, et al. Influence of 3D spa-
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial sup- cer fabric on drying shrinkage of concrete canvas.
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article: This work was supported by the Research Grants 27 November 2014. DOI: 1528083714562087.
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