Knitted fabrics are widely used in clothing because of their distinctive ability to be shaped and formed, which is fundamentally different from the behavior of woven cloth. Since stitches produce complex interactions between yarns, the macroscopic behavior of knitted fabrics depends more on their loop structure and stitch patterns than on the physical properties of the yarn. In order to explore the unique mechanical properties of knitted textiles we have developed a yarn-level model for weft-knitted fabrics that can be used in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulations. Producing geometric models of yarns in a knitted material is framed as an optimization problem. In this computing context, a single “cost” function is defined that captures the various required features of the final geometric model. The function is specified in such a way that finding the variable values that results in a minimum function evaluation produces the desired geometric result. The centerlines of the fabric's yarns are defined as Catmull-Rom splines, and the cost function is minimized by adjusting the locations of the spline's control points. The optimization is based on physical parameters such as yarn interpenetration, length of the yarn and bending energy. The optimized models are written to a file which can be directly read by an FEA software. The results show that our approach can create yarn-level models of weft-knitted fabrics consisting of an arbitrary pattern of knit and purl stitches, with a range of sizes, that are suitable for FEA simulations.

针织物由于具有独特的成型和成形能力而被广泛用于服装中，这与机织织物的行为根本不同。由于针迹在纱线之间产生复杂的相互作用，因此针织物的宏观行为更多地取决于其线圈结构和针迹样式，而不是纱线的物理特性。为了探索针织纺织品的独特机械性能，我们开发了一种用于纬编织物的纱线级模型，可用于有限元分析（FEA）模拟。在针织材料中生产纱线的几何模型被认为是一个优化问题。在此计算上下文中，定义了一个“成本”函数，该函数捕获了最终几何模型的各种所需特征。以这样的方式指定功能：找到导致最小功能评估的变量值，以产生所需的几何结果。织物纱线的中心线定义为Catmull-Rom花键，并且通过调整花键控制点的位置将成本函数最小化。优化基于物理参数，例如纱线的互穿性，纱线的长度和弯曲能。将优化的模型写入文件，该文件可以由FEA软件直接读取。结果表明，我们的方法可以创建纬编针织物的纱线级模型，该模型由任意图案的针织和短纤针迹组成，并具有一定范围的尺寸，适用于FEA模拟。