Buckling behaviour of polyester fibres: influence of their material heterogeneity

Polyester monofilaments are widely used in the manufacture of 3D textiles. Due to their buckling state during the fabric compression process, polyester fibres provide such fabrics with a number of interesting properties. The aim of this study is to enhance the understanding of the buckling behaviour of polyester monofilaments. The article focuses on the influence of the material heterogeneity of polyester fibres on this phenomenon. Experimental, analytical and numerical approaches are combined so as to determine how the critical buckling load evolves due to such heterogeneity. The results showed that it is reasonable to consider such monofilaments as homogeneous during the study of the critical buckling load thereof. The numerical study determined that the material heterogeneity of the fibre can be disregarded without unduly influencing the critical buckling load. Moreover, a comparison of the various results appeared to demonstrate the significant impact of the anisotropy of the fibre on the results.