710 Textile Research Journal

Bending Analysis of Nonlinear Material Fibers with a Generalized

Elliptical Cross-section
Kyung Woo Lee1
Division of Fashion and Textiles, Dong-A University, Busan, South Korea

ABSTRACT
The bending moment–curvature relation was derived for generalized elliptical cross-
section fibers made of nonlinear material and particular values were found to agree with
those already obtained for elliptical cross-section and rectangular cross-section. The bend-
ing shape factors, the relation between bending rigidity and linear density were explicitly
determined. The bending stress–strain relation of the generalized elliptical cross-section
fibers was also derived.

Woven and knit fabrics are made using yarns, which Theoretical Considerations
are aggregates of oriented fibers. Nonwoven fabrics are
made directly using fibers. To bend a woven or knit fabric The Bending Moment–Curvature Relation
requires bending of the yarns. To bend a nonwoven fabric In this study, the stress–strain law of the material of a
requires bending of the fibers. fiber is assumed to be of the power law form:
The bending properties of fibers influence the behavior
such as the drape, comport and handle of yarn and fabrics. σ = Eε n , (2)
In order to anticipate the bending behavior of yarn and where σ represents the stress, ε is the strain, E is the tensile
fabrics, we must first understand the bending properties modulus and n is a constant. The typical values of n for
of fibers [8]. Finlayson investigated the bending of fiber polymers are around 0.9 [9].
made of linear elastic material [4]. Recently the bending In a bending problem, it is well known [6] that the
formulas of fiber made of nonlinear material were obtained bending moment is given by
for fibers whose cross-section is an ellipse or a rect-
angle [5]. M = EIn+1 (κ)n , (3)
In this paper, we consider the boundary of the fiber where M is the bending moment, κ is the curvature and
cross-section is a generalized ellipse given by the equa- In+1 is the n + 1-th area moment defined by
tion: 

x p
y q In+1 = yn+1 dA . (4)
+ =1 (1) A
a b
For n = 1, corresponding to linear elastic material,
where p, q are the shape parameters and a, b are semi-axes. In+1 = I2 = A y2 dA which is the familiar second area
Sections bounded by the ellipse or rectangle are included moment.
as particular cases.
A fiber with a generalized elliptical cross-section is of Determination of n + 1-th Area Moment for a
practical interest because it can represent various fiber Generalized Elliptical Cross-Section
cross-section by putting in different values for p, q, a, b. We may compute In+1 for a generalized elliptical cross-
A few examples are shown in Figures 1 and 2. Note that section.
for the limiting case p, q → ∞, we obtain a rectangular By Green’s theorem
cross-section. The purpose of this paper is to derive the  
bending formulas for generalized elliptical cross-section 1
In+1 = yn+1 dA = − yn+2 dx . (5)
fibers made of nonlinear material. A n + 2 C

The generalized ellipse may be represented parametri-

cally by
1 Tel.: 8251 880 7334, fax: 8251 880 7335; e-mail: kwlee@mail.
2 2
donga.ac.kr x = a(cos θ) p , y = b(sin θ) q , 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π (6)

Textile Res. J. 75(10), 710–714 (2005) DOI: 10.1177/0040517505059713 © 2005 SAGE Publications www.sagepublications.com
October 2005 711

Figure 2. Various fiber cross-sections of ( ax )p + ( by )q = 1 for a =

b = 1: (a) p = q = 0.5; (b) p = q = 1; (c) p = 2, q = 1; (d) p = q = 2;
(e) p = 5, q = 1; (f) p = q = 10.

where (r) is the Gamma function defined by

 ∞
(r) = e−x x r−1 dx .
0
Figure 1. Various fiber cross-sections of( ax )p+ ( by )q
= 1 for a =
b = 1: (a) p = q = 0.5; (b) p = q = 1; (c) p = 2, q = 1; (d) p = q = 2;
(e) p = 5, q = 1; (f) p = q = 10. Then we obtain
 π
8abn+2 2
q +1 (cos θ) p −1 dθ
2n+4 2

Substituting equation (6) into equation (5) yields In+1 = (sin θ)

p(n + 2) 0
 π  
8abn+2 2 4ab n+2
n+2 1
(sin θ ) q +1 (cos θ ) p −1 dθ .
2n+4 2
In+1 = (7) = B + 1, . (9)
p(n + 2) 0 p(n + 2) q p
The integral on the right can be evaluated by using the
Using Beta function identities
Beta function B(r, s) defined by the integral [1]
 π s
2 (r)(s) B(r, s + 1) = B(r, s)
B(r, s) = 2 (sin θ )2r−1 (cos θ )2s−1 dθ = , r+s
0 (r + s)
(8) B(r, s) = B(s, r)
712 Textile Research Journal

Finally, we find the n + 1-th area moment of general- In the case of a circular cross-section with radius R,
ized ellipse setting p = q = 2, a = b = R, in equation (10), we find
   
4abn+2 1 n+2 2Rn+3 1 n+2
In+1 = B , . (10) In+1 = B , (15)
p(n + 2) + q p q n+3 2 2

In the special case of the ellipse, setting p = q = 2 in The area of a generalized ellipse is defined
equation (10), we find that 
  Area = dA
4abn+2 1 n+2 A
In+1 = B ,
2n + 6 2 2
    By setting n = −1 in equations (5) and (10), we obtain
n+2  1  n + 1 the area of a generalized ellipse by
4ab
= 2
 
2
.
2n + 6  n+3
2  
4ab 1 1
Area = B , . (16)
By using recurrence formula (p + q) p q

  Equating the area of the circle to that of the generalized

1 √
(r + 1) = r(r) and  = π . 2
ellipse (a = tb, t is a constant) and solving for Rb 2 ,
2

Finally we have the result b2 π(p + q)

=   . (17)
R 2
4t B 1p , q1
  n
√ n  2
In+1 = π   abn+2 , (11) Substituting equations (10) and (15) into equation
n + 3  n+3
2
(14) and taking into account equation (17), finally we
obtain the shape factor for the generalized elliptical cross-
which agrees with the previous result [5].
section
As a further check on equation (10), we can find
the n + 1-th area moment for a rectangle, in the limit  √ n+2 n+1  
π 1 2 (n + 3)  n+3
p, q → ∞ in equation (10). By using the relation η=  2 
2 t p(n + 2) + q  n+2
2
1 
B , n+2 1  
n+3
1 n+2 ( p + q)
p q 2
lim = . (12)
p,q→∞ p(n + 2) + q n+2 ×B , 1 1 . (18)
p q B p, q
Finally we have the n + 1-th area moment for a rect-
angle by A particular example is now worked out. The shape
factor for the rectangular cross-section is easy to obtain
4abn+2 from equation (18) for p, q → ∞.
In+1 = , (13)
n+2 Since
 
which is the same as that previously found. B 1p , n+2
q 1
lim = ,
p,q→∞ p(n + 2) + q n+2
Results (p + q)
lim   =1 . (19)
Shape Factor for Bending p,q→∞ B 1 , 1
p q
Shape factor, η, is defined as the ratio of the bending
rigidity EIn+1 of non-circular cross-section to the bending We have, therefore
rigidity of circular cross-section with the same area and  √ n+2 n+1  
may be expressed by π 1 2 (n + 3)  n+3
η=  2  . (20)
2 t (n + 2)  n+2
2
In+1 (non-circular cross section)
η= . (14)
In+1 (circular cross section) which agrees with the previous result.
October 2005 713

The Relation Between Bending Rigidity in cross-section and be made of linear elastic material. He
and Linear Density derived a relation such that
Carlene derived the relation between bending rigidity  
4M b
and denier for linear elastic material such that =E , (24)
π ab2 ρ
Eη (tex)2
G= , (21)
4π S 2 where ρ is the radius of curvature.
He defines the quantity π4M ab2
as the bending stress
where G is the bending rigidity defined as the product because it has the dimensions of stress and the quantity ρb
EI2 , η is the shape factor, and S is the density [3]. It as the bending strain.
follows from this relation that bending rigidity of a fiber For a generalized elliptical cross-section fiber with
depends on its shape, its modulus, its density and, most nonlinear material characteristics of power law form,
of all, its thickness (linear density). Since the fineness equation (3) may be written as
comes in as a squared term, and in view of the range of
values occurring in practice, namely from 0.1 tex for a  n
1
fine man-made fiber to 1 tex for a coarse wool and higher M = EIn+1 (κ) = EIn+1
n

for some hair fibers and man-made monofilament, it will ρ

    n
be the most important factor in determining the bending 4abn+2 1 n+2 1
rigidity [7]. =E B , . (25)
p(n + 2) + q p q ρ
Experimentally, the bending rigidity has been found to
be proportional to (tex)m and for the viscose rayon he
Finally, we obtain the bending stress and strain for
obtained m = 1.8, which is slightly less than the theo-
fiber with nonlinear material characteristics of power law
retical value of 2. For fiber made of nonlinear material
form by
of the power law form, from equations (11) and (14), we
 n
have M b
= E , (26)
    2
ab f (n, p, q) ρ
√ n  n2
G = Eη π  n + 3  Rn+3 . (22)  
n+3  2 where f (n, p, q) = p(n +42) + q B 1p , n +q 2
Equation (26) reduces to equation (24) for the special
By using the relations case f (1, 2, 2).
tex
Area = πR2 = .
S Conclusions
Finally we find the relation between the bending rigidity The bending moment–curvature relation was obtained
and linear density for nonlinear material fibers whose cross-section is a gen-
eral ellipse. The relation between bending rigidity and
G = g(n)(tex)
n+3
2 , (23) linear density was also derived. Results obtained in this
study can be used to optimize cross-section shape of fibers
for bending properties of textile materials.
where
   
− n +2 2 n −( n +2 3 )
 n2 Appendix
g(n) = Eη(π ) (S)   ,
n+3  n+3
2
In this section we will prove the two equations (12)
which reduces to the linear elastic material case of and (19).
equation 21 when n = 1.  
B 1p , n+2
(1) Equation (12): lim p(n+2)+q q
= n+2
1
p,q→∞
Bending Stress–Strain Relation for Nonlinear To prove equation (12), using identities
Material Characteristics of Power Law Form
Chapman investigated the bending properties of single (r)(s)
B(r, s) = , (r + 1) = r(r)
fiber [2]. In his work, fiber was assumed to be elliptical (r + s)
714 Textile Research Journal
1 
first we rewrite it in the more useful form for devel-  p
+ q1 + 1
oping asymptotic relation = 1    .
 + 1  q1 + 1
  p
B 1p , n +q 2
The final results is thus
p(n + 2) + q
1 n+2 1 n+2  
  q + q (p + q)  1p + q1 + 1
1 p p lim   = lim  1   
= 1 n+2 = p,q→∞ B 1 , 1 p,q→∞  + 1  q1 + 1
p(n + 2) + q  p + q p(n + 2) + q p q p
1 1  1  1 n+2 (1)
 p  q pq
 p  q = =1 .
× 1 n+2  = 1 n+2  (1)(1)
 p + q +1  p + q +1
1  n+2  Literature Cited
1  p +1  q +1
=   1. Arfken, G. B., and Weber, H. J., “Mathematical Methods
n + 2  1p + n +q 2 + 1
for Physicists,” pp. 331–337, 613–619. Academic Press, San
Diego, 1995.
Using the known value (1) = 1, we finally arrive
2. Chapman, B. M., The Bending Stress–Strain Properties of
at the asymptotic relation
Single Fibres and the Effect of Temperature and Relative
  Humidity, J. Textile Inst. 64, 312–327 (1973).
B 1p , n+2
q
lim 3. Carlene, P. W., The Relation Between Fibre and Yarn Flex-
p,q→∞ p(n + 2) + q ural Rigidity in Continuous Viscose Yarns, J. Textile Inst.
1   n+2  41, 159–172 (1950).
1  p +1  q +1
= lim   4. Finlayson, D., Yarn for Special Purpose – Effect of Filament
p,q→∞ n + 2  1p + n+2 +1 Size, J. Textile Inst. 37, 168–179 (1946).
q
5. Lee, K., Bending of Fibres with Non-linear Material Char-
1 (1) 1
= = acteristic of Power Law Form, J. Textile Inst. 93, 132–136
n + 2 (1)(1) n+2 (2002).
6. Lewis, G., and Monaso, F., Large Deflections of Cantilever
(2) Equation 19: lim (p+q)


1 1
 = 1. Beams of Non-Linear Materials, Comput. Struct. 14, 357–
p,q→∞ B p,q
In a similar manner, we find that 360 (1981).
7. Morton, W. E., and Hearle, J. W. S., “Physical Properties of
 
(p + q)  1p + q1 Textiles Fibres,” pp. 399–411, Textile Institute, Manchester,
  = (p + q)  1   1  1993.
B 1p , q1  p  q 8. Warner, S. B., “Fiber Science,” pp. 158–160, Prentice Hall,
pq   New Jersey, 1995.
p+q
 1p + q1 + 1
= (p + q)     9. Williams, J. G., “Stress Analysis of Polymers,” pp. 142–143,
p 1p q q1 Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1980.