Preparation and Properties of Flexible Cushioning Composites Based on Silicone Rubber and Warp—Knitted Spacer Fabric

This paper aims to develop a new type of flexible cushioning composite material that can be applied to cushioning protective appliances. Room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV silicone rubber) was filled into five groups of warp knitted spacer fabrics with different structural parameters, and flexible cushioning composites with filling rates of 30%, 50% and 70% were prepared. At the same time, there was a group of warp knitted spacer fabrics without silicone rubber as control. Then the infrared spectrum of silicone rubber was analyzed to test the compression and impact properties of flexible cushioning composite. It is found that the increase of filling rate enhances the compressive and impact properties of flexible cushioning composites. The flexible cushioning composite material can show better compression performance at a larger compression ratio. The structural parameters affecting the impact properties of flexible cushioning composites are arranged in descending order as fabric thickness, spacer tilt angle, spacer density, mesh number. The established mathematical model can provide a theoretical basis for the performance study of such composite materials. The compressive properties and impact properties of flexible buffer composites are not correlated.