Undergraduate Research

Analyzing Auxetic Cellular Structures for Personal Protective Gear Designs

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Abstract

Each year, an estimated 3.5 million youth under the age of 15 years old receive medical care for sport related injuries in the U. S. (“Sports Injury”, 2019). It is critical to design athletic gears to prevent injuries, protect young athletes’ health, and increase safety in sports. The primary objective of this study is to create a new athlete shoe design utilizing auxetic cellular structures. The secondary objective is to analyze the properties of various auxetic cellular structures for a wearer’s body protection from impacts. Auxetic foams are more shock absorbing, lightweight, flexible, forms to the body, and have more tensile strength as compared to traditional open and closed cell foams. The new shoe design structures are designed to withstand high stress on a molecular level. The result of this study demonstrates that auxetic materials have various advantages over traditional materials in the application of sports related personal protection equipment.

Keywords: Auxetic, metamaterial, protection, body

How to Cite:

Emerson, R. & Rhee, J., (2024) “Analyzing Auxetic Cellular Structures for Personal Protective Gear Designs”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 80(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.17641