Innovation through textile fabrication involves addressing the industry’s grand challenges, including the need for new ways to model and design textiles pre-fabrication, as well as new tools and fabrication techniques to enable scalability and further automation. Advances in these fundamental building blocks will enable new ways for advanced manufacturing to progress in the United States, create a need for new skill sets and expertise, and enable the incorporation of new functionality into textiles.

Virtual Textile Modeling and the Digital Twin

One of the textile industry’s grand challenges involves the need for new ways to physically model and design textiles pre-fabrication. Historically this has been a major challenge due to the complex dynamics inherent in textile structures. Through a joint effort of CFF and Professor Randall Kamien of the University of Pennsylvania, with ongoing funding support from the US Army DEVCOM, new design tools are in development to enable the modeling of knit structures using a digital twin.

Related: Computational Modeling of Knitted Textile Architectures, Exo-Skin Soft Haptic Exoskeletal Interface, Self-Folding in Weft Knit Textiles

Advanced Manufacturing & Automation of Textile Manufacturing

The Center’s R&D projects often involve working with new materials that require modification or adaptation to industrial equipment, or even the development of new equipment that allows automated manipulation of soft or flexible yarns, fibers or fabrics. The range of equipment in the Center’s Innovation Space allows for the simulation of a mini-factory environment. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, this capability allowed the Center to pivot to full-time manufacturing of knitted masks for several months to supply essential Drexel staff and the broader community.

Related: Masks

E-Textile Design, Fabrication & Integration

R&D Projects at the Center frequently involve using conductive textiles to create active and responsive devices. Using a wide array of conductive yarns and fibers with a range of electrical properties and suitability for textile integration, the Center’s work continues to explore the potential of fabrics that can transduce input and transmit electrical signals. This includes work on the knitted capacitive touch sensor developed by the Center, as well as development of frameworks for signal processing and design kits for soft systems.

Related: Capacitive Touch Sensor, Textile Energy Storage, Smart Fabric Bellyband, Smart Fabric Sensors and Actuators, Touch Sensitive for Hubo, Wi-fi Power Harvesting, MXene Yarn