Exploration of the Energy Landscape of Knitted Fabrics for Mechanical Programmability

Knitted fabrics exhibit richness in their energy landscapes, which can be exploited for a wide range of engineering applications from wearable mechanical metamaterials to soft robotics. We use a physically validated and efficient numerical tool to calculate the strain energy landscape of knitted materials. We first show that a wide range of elastic energy states can be achieved by varying the structural unit cells. Then, we examine the anisotropy of fabric by performing a parametric study on loading conditions. Our results allow us to explore the design space of knitted materials and find structures with mechanical responses that are tailored to different applications.