The effect of tuck stitches on the mechanical performance of knitted fabric reinforced composites

The mechanical performance of the composites which are reinforced with glass knitted fabrics composed of tuck stitches have been investigated. Tensile, compression, impact and compression-after-impact (CAI) tests were performed and the results of the composites reinforced with full cardigan derivative knitted fabrics and 1 × 1 rib knitted fabrics of glass fibers have been compared. As for a composite material, performance depends not only on the strength of the constituent materials but also on the internal structural geometry of the constituents, it is interesting to study the effects of the tuck stitch which is one of three different types of loops that can be used to build the knitted fabrics and has a different geometry than the other loop types.