Satin Non-Woven Fabrics for Designing of Self-Regulating Breathable Building Skins

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce the concept of 2-way 2-fold genus-1 non-woven fabrics that can be used to design self-regulating breathable building skins. The advantage of non-woven structures over woven structures for breathable skin design is that they can completely be closed to stop air exchange. We have developed a theoretical framework for such non-woven structures starting from the mathematical theory of biaxial 2-fold Genus-1 woven fabrics. By re-purposing a mathematical notation that is used to describe 2-fold 2-way 2-fold genus-1 woven fabrics, we identify and classify non-woven fabrics. Within this classification, we have identified a special subset that corresponds to satin woven fabrics and allows for maximum air exchange. Any other subset of non-woven structures that correspond to other classical 2-way 2-fold genus-1 fabrics, such as plain or twill, will allow for less air exchange. We also show that there exists another subset of satin non-woven fabrics that can provide the biggest openings.