Mechanics of Elastic Performance of Textile Materials

A theoretical analysis of the shear deformation of a fabric under biaxial load was carried out and the amount of twisting deformation of spherical inflated structures made from skewed fabric was calculated and compared with the twisting observed in a model structure. A device was constructed for the measurement of the shear resistance of fabrics, and determinations of this property were made on a range of fabrics in the off-loom, heat-set, and coated states. The theo retical expressions and the experimental results are used to show that twisting deformations could be important in full- scale structures.