Influences of spacer monofilament distributions on mechanical properties of warp-knitted spacer fabric/resin composites

Warp-knitted spacer fabrics have a unique three-dimensional structure and excellent compressive properties. They can also be used as reinforcement and compounded with base material to obtain composites. In this paper, warp-knitted spacer fabrics with single-sided hexagonal mesh structure were prepared, and the spacer monofilaments were removed in a set ratio to analyze the effects of distribution patterns of them on the tensile and compressive properties of warp-knitted spacer fabrics. Warp-knitted spacer fabric-reinforced epoxy resin-based composites with various structures were prepared to investigate the compressive and bending properties. The results showed that the tensile properties of warp-knitted spacer fabrics were not significantly related to the distribution, but compression performance was correlated with the spacer monofilaments ratio (n). Fabric-reinforced epoxy resin-based composites of sample no. 1 have the best compression performance, and the best performance in bending is sample no. 5. A different type of warp-knitted spacer fabric could be chosen for achieving the optimal configuration in specific application scenarios. This paper can provide theoretical implications for the application of warp-knitted spacer fabrics and fabric-reinforced epoxy resin-based composites.