Principle capabilities of crocheted fabrics for composite materials

A first limited approach for the automated production of crocheted fabrics was introduced in 2019. However, the knowledge on crocheted fabrics is very scarce and only few technical applications are presented in the literature. To provide a basis for possible future technical applications, the general tensile properties of crocheted fabrics are explored, and a promising application as composite reinforcement is introduced. Due to the early development state of the crochet machine prototype, conventionally hand-made crocheted fabrics are studied and the benefit of improving the machine is evaluated. The mechanical properties of crocheted fabrics depend significantly on the individual crocheter, but fabrics produced from the same person are sufficiently reproducible for reasonable investigations. Anisotropic properties with a trend toward higher resisted forces in course compared to wale direction were identified with crochets constructed from single crochet (sc) and from half double crochet (hdc) stitches. Furthermore, a tendency toward higher possible loads at larger elongations was revealed for crocheted fabrics compared to knitted ones. To the best of our knowledge, for the first time crocheted aramid fabrics were used in epoxy composites. With a crocheted reinforcement in a non-cut composite produced by vacuum-assisted hand lay-up, significantly higher ultimate tensile strength and Young’s modulus were recorded compared to a knitted one with comparable fracture modes.