Functional warp-knitted fabrics with integrated superelastic NiTi filaments

We report on a particular direction of currently conducted extended research on novel textiles with integrated thin metallic filaments made of an intermetallic shape memory NiTi alloy exhibiting functional behaviour such as superelastic deformation up to 10% and a thermally induced shape memory effect. Within this research direction we focus on development of single and multi-layered warp-knitted fabrics that are directionally reinforced with superelastic NiTi filaments. First, we describe the expected properties of such novel structures and their potential applications. Second, we present the functional thermomechanical behaviour of applied superelastic NiTi filaments. Third, we address questions related to the design and fabrication of warp-knitted fabrics with integrated NiTi filaments. Then, we describe experimental methods applied on novel functional textiles in order to evaluate their functional properties. Finally, we present and discuss results of experiments carried out on these novel functional textiles.