arXiv subjects

Vanessa Sanchez

Publications and source records attributed to Vanessa Sanchez.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Textiles: from twisted yarn to topology and mechanics

While textiles have existed throughout much of human history as complex mechanical metamaterials, textile science has largely been overlooked by the physics community until recently. In this review, we consider the symmetry, topology, and mechanics of woven and knitted materials, showing that they represent a unique, if under-explored, corner of condensed matter. We start with the basic construction and elementary mechanical model of spun yarn, reviewing recent developments twisted bundle structures. We then introduce woven and knitted fabrics as materials with layer symmetries that can be topologically characterized as knots and links in the thickened torus. We finally discuss fabric mechanics and geometry, invoking recent results surrounding yarn-level and stitch-level geometry, deformations, and defect structures.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2026

Knitting Multistability

Curved elastic shells can be fabricated through molding or by harnessing residual stresses. These shells often exhibit snap-through behavior and multistability when loaded. We present a unique way of fabricating curved elastic shells that exhibit multistability and snap-through behavior, weft-knitting. The knitting process introduces internal stresses into the textile sheet, which leads to complex 3D curvatures. We explore the relationship between the geometry and the mechanical response, identifying a parameter space where the textiles are multistable. We harness the snapping behavior and shape change through multistability to design soft conductive switches with built-in haptic feedback, and incorporate these textile switches into wearable devices. This work will allow us to harness the nonlinear mechanical behavior of textiles to create functional, soft, and seamless wearable devices. This includes but is not limited to the devices for additional cycling visibility and safety that we envision.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2024

Unravelling the Mechanics of Knitted Fabrics Through Hierarchical Geometric Representation

Knitting interloops one-dimensional yarns into three-dimensional fabrics that exhibit behaviours beyond their constitutive materials. How extensibility and anisotropy emerge from the hierarchical organisation of yarns into knitted fabrics has long been unresolved. We sought to unravel the mechanical roles of tensile mechanics, assembly and dynamics arising from the yarn level on fabric nonlinearity by developing a yarn-based dynamical model. This physically validated model captures the fundamental mechanical response of knitted fabrics, analogous to flexible metamaterials and biological fiber networks due to geometric nonlinearity within such hierarchical systems. Fabric anisotropy originates from observed yarn-yarn rearrangements during alignment dynamics and is topology-dependent. This yarn-based model also provides a design space of knitted fabrics to embed functionalities by varying geometric configuration and material property in instructed procedures compatible to machine manufacturing. Our hierarchical approach to build up a knitted fabrics computationally modernizes an ancient craft and represents a first step towards mechanical programmability of knitted fabrics in wide engineering applications.

cond-mat.soft↗