3D knitted textiles

Computerised flat weft knitting is the most versatile technology in 3D knitting. The key elements that are essential to the development of 3D knitted textiles include the needle, needle bed, racking mechanism, carriage and cams, yam carriers, take-down... 

D knitted textiles have already been widely used as technical textiles in different fields. The future work should be on the development of new 3D knitted structures with more extra functions to meet the requirements of new application fields. For example, warp-knitted spacer fabrics have great structural variations. By using different structures and fibre materials, they have been developed to have various physical functions to be used in different fields, such as cushioning, sound absorption, smart textiles and thermal collection. New potential application fields should be identified first in the future, and then fabric stmctures can be designed to better match the specific applicatimis. 

Apart from tubular structures and connections, the versatility of computerised flat knitting machines offers the possibility of knitting 3D textiles with more complex shapes, such as domes, spheres and box-like shapes (Hu et al., 1994). Based on these basic net-shape structures, it is possible to produce complex irregular 3D textiles by combining different basic structures. The production of this class of 3D textiles will use the technique of varying the number of needles in action. 

Besides weaving, 3D textile can be produced using knitting, braiding and ntm-woven techniques. 

For an illustrative representation of all the aforementioned aspects, examples of individual products are shown. Products like shoes, underwear, diving clothes and other applications are partly composed of 3D textiles, which are in most cases warp-knitted spacer fabrics. In addition to warp-knitted spacer fabrics, knitted spacer fabrics are also processed. The individual design allows the manufacmrer to combine more demands on the products and thus cover a wide range of applications. Generally there is great diversity in the field of sports and leisure clothing. 

The Cetex Institut fur Textil- und Verarbeitungsmaschinen gemeinniitzige GmbH based in Chemnitz, Germany, has been developing new areas of application for the 3D contour warp knitting process oti double-bar Raschel machines since 1997. The objective, to enable the incorporation of directly oriented thread systems into the base fabric (filler thread, weft thread), was reached (Anmi., 1997b). 

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