High-Resolution Fiber-Level Simulation of Knitted Patterns

Abstract

Due to fantastic patterns, fashionable colors and properties of soft and comfortable, knitted fabric inspires designers to create various fabrics and products. Since digital technology serves as a feasible tool to translate these inspirations into reality, the paper proposes a 3D simulation strategy of knitted patterns, inspired by the digital element approach. In this strategy, yarn is discretized into fibers to enhance visual quality, with fibers modeled as a series of control points. An improved beam element is utilized to connect two adjacent control points, while rod elements are employed to describe interactions between fibers. To optimized the method, dynamic boundary and variable driving force are proposed to control overall and local deformation during the simulation, enabling the realization of complex patterns. Additionally, an array operation is designed for the swift creation of knitted fabric with large size based on a modified periodic boundary condition. The performance of the method is tested and it is found that knitted patterns can be quickly generated after few iteration steps. Finally, a series of patterns are simulated and compared against the actual fabrics. The results demonstrate that the strategy can accurately and effectively simulate complex patterns.

Keywords: Knitted pattern, simulation, contact detection, yarn, fiber