Vibration isolation behaviour of 3D polymeric knitted spacer fabrics under harmonic vibration testing conditions

The use of 3D knitted spacer fabrics made of polymeric fibre materials as vibration isolators is proposed in this study by considering their spacer monofilaments as Euler springs which have been proved to be excellent vibration isolators. Three types of spacer fabrics with different compression force-displacement characteristics were fabricated by varying monofilament diameter and fabric thickness. Their vibration transmissibility under harmonic vibration testing conditions was measured by an electromagnetic shaker. It is found that the resonant frequency and isolation frequency of these fabrics decrease with increasing acceleration level and load mass, and a thicker fabric has better vibration isolation performance due to its lower resonant and isolation frequencies. The study shows that 3D knitted spacer fabrics can be designed as good human vibration isolators without compromising their comfort.