Study of the bending properties of variable stiffness chain mail fabrics

This study aims to explore a chain mail fabric with fast, reversible, and controllable stiffness adjustment. The structured fabric consists of three-dimensional single-cell particles. The chain mail fabric was first printed by 3D printing technology using polyamide 12 material. A three-point bending test was then carried out to investigate the mechanical tunability of the fabric under different external pressures and to establish a finite element model. Finally, the effects of pressure and particle structure on the apparent bending modulus, energy absorption, and peak load of chain mail fabrics are investigated to reveal the mechanical strengthening mechanism of chain mail fabrics. The results show that the apparent bending modulus of the chain mail fabric increases up to more than 20 times its original value as the pressure increases from 0 to 60 kPa, and the energy absorption and strength increase up to 22 and 19 times, respectively, providing a new approach to developing structural fabrics with adjustable bending modulus and new ideas for the development of lightweight, robust and adaptable structures.