A SIMULATION OF THE DRAPING OF BIDIRECTIONAL FABRICS OVER ARBITRARY SURFACES

The development of a graphical simulation to describe the draping of bidirectional fabrics over arbitrary surfaces is reported. The simulation applies to any surface, described either analytically or numerically, and allows any number of draped configurations on a surface. A unique draped configuration results when one warp thread and one weft thread are constrained to specific paths on the surface. The warp and weft crossover-point locations are calculated by numerically solving the intersection equations of the surface and two spheres that represent all possible positions of the ends of a warp and weft segment. Fabric-wrinkling and fabric-bridging over surface depressions are extreme cases of deformation, which, as with thread orientation, can be controlled by the placement of the constrained threads on the surface to be draped. Several surfaces are draped with the simulation, which is used as a design tool for selecting suitable draped configurations for specific surfaces.