The influences of pre-tensions on the deformations of woven fabric shells during cyclic axial compression buckling processes

The influences of pre-tensions on the deformations of cylindrical shells made of various woven fabrics undergoing axial compression buckling process were studied. The fabric deformations were differentiated and quantified using the energy consumed to produce and recover them. Various types of deformation including elastic deformation, recoverable deformation and permanent deformation produced in the cyclic compression buckling-recovery processes were associated with their corresponding energy consumed to either form the fabric deformations or recover the deformations. It was found that the fabric shells having greater pre-tensions in the compression buckling process consumed greater amount of energy to deform the fabrics and requires less energy to recover the deformed fabrics, and that deformed fabrics released greater amount of strain energy to self-recover their elastic deformations. It was also found that the effect of pretension on the energies consumed to deform a fabric varies with the fabric areal density, the minimum pre-tension of 2N/m is required to enable the energies consumed to deform the fabrics of light, medium and heavy weight less sensitive to the changes of pre-tension.