Abstract
This study presents the development and evaluation of a novel strain-sensing electronic textile that integrates elastomeric optical fiber within an auxetic knitted structure. Conventional wearable sensors often suffer from motion artifacts due to the mechanical mismatch between human-joint movements and the positive Poisson's ratio of standard fabrics. To address this, a log cabin knit pattern combining knit and purl stitches was designed to induce an out-of-plane buckling effect, resulting in a negative Poisson's ratio. A stretchable elastomeric optical fiber with a diameter of 1.2 mm was embedded within a 1×1 rib channel to ensure stable electromechanical coupling without hindering the flexibility of the fabric. Mechanical testing showed that the strongest auxetic behavior was achieved with a stitch density of 6 stitches per inch and a 15×15 unit-cell configuration, whereas optical characterization identified the SPI 7 and 20×20 configuration as providing the most stable and continuous optical response over the tested displacement range. Pilot demonstrations of respiration monitoring and elbow-joint motion tracking showed that the integrated textile could continuously detect physiological and biomechanical deformation under realistic conditions. The findings confirm that the fusion of auxetic structural mechanics with optical intensity modulation offers a robust, body-conformable platform for next-generation wearable health monitoring, sports science, and soft robotics.
Keywords
Auxetic, knit; Optical fiber; E-textile; Sensor; Monitoring
DOI
10.21606/TI-2026.178
Citation
Mohan, R.,and Jo, J.(2026) Strain-sensing Auxetic Knit with Embedded Elastomeric Optical Fibers, in Jane Scott, Sophie Skach, and Rebecca Stewart (eds.), Textile Intersections 2026, 17-18 September 2026, London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/TI-2026.178
Conference Track
researchpapers
Included in
Strain-sensing Auxetic Knit with Embedded Elastomeric Optical Fibers
This study presents the development and evaluation of a novel strain-sensing electronic textile that integrates elastomeric optical fiber within an auxetic knitted structure. Conventional wearable sensors often suffer from motion artifacts due to the mechanical mismatch between human-joint movements and the positive Poisson's ratio of standard fabrics. To address this, a log cabin knit pattern combining knit and purl stitches was designed to induce an out-of-plane buckling effect, resulting in a negative Poisson's ratio. A stretchable elastomeric optical fiber with a diameter of 1.2 mm was embedded within a 1×1 rib channel to ensure stable electromechanical coupling without hindering the flexibility of the fabric. Mechanical testing showed that the strongest auxetic behavior was achieved with a stitch density of 6 stitches per inch and a 15×15 unit-cell configuration, whereas optical characterization identified the SPI 7 and 20×20 configuration as providing the most stable and continuous optical response over the tested displacement range. Pilot demonstrations of respiration monitoring and elbow-joint motion tracking showed that the integrated textile could continuously detect physiological and biomechanical deformation under realistic conditions. The findings confirm that the fusion of auxetic structural mechanics with optical intensity modulation offers a robust, body-conformable platform for next-generation wearable health monitoring, sports science, and soft robotics.