New insight into the flexural rigidity of multi-filament yarn

Filament yarn is one of the most widely used soft strands in the textile industry; it exhibits excellent flexibility and is capable of being used in various productions, including knitting, weaving, braiding, sewing, and embroidery. The inherent complex interlacement between fibers, including twist, entanglement, and yarn geometry, often exhibits a nonlinear response to external loads. In addition, the interlacement of fibers also introduces difficulties when accurately measuring the flexural property of multi-filament yarn. In particular, the flexural rigidity of the yarn strongly influences the quality of end products when incorporated into novel textile technologies. In this paper, we developed a three-point bending instrument and a method for measuring the flexural rigidity of filament yarn. A representative point obeyed from Coplan’s construction on the bending constitutive curve was determined to obtain pure flexural rigidity. Furthermore, the bending process and deformations across cross-sections of filament yarns were discussed. The research provides new physical insights into the yarn bending property with the consideration of eliminating the sub-deformation variabilities. The work also paves the way for the accurate and quick measurement of the flexural rigidity of high length-to-width ratio soft materials by a three-point bending method.