Original article Parametric study of the weave combination on the moldability of dome-shaped fabrics Dan Yang 1 , Ayse Ebru Tayyar 2 and Xiaogang Chen 3 Abstract This paper aims to investigate the relationship of the weave combination and the moldability for dome-shaped fabrics. The weave combination plays a fundamental role in composing the dome shape for the dome-shaped fabric. Twelve concentric-round patterns were designed according to different weave arrangements varied systematically. It is found that a better dome shape could be formed using the weave sequence with long floats in the outer circle and short floats in the inner circle, compared to the opposite weave sequence. This is because the weave with long floats is easy to shrink and the weave with short floats is easy to invade. The larger the shrinkage in the outer edge, the more area could be pulled forward to the center to form the dome. The dome effect could be further strengthened by the shrinkage of long floats in the middle circle of the concentric-round. In addition, the washing treatment could give a positive influence on the moldability, as the study result shows that the dome depth of specimens was better after washing than before washing. Keywords weave combination, moldability, dome-shaped fabric, shape weaving As an important outfit to protect wearers from projectiles or fragments, body armor requires the points of cutting and sewing to be as few as possible. This is because these points always become the weak locations against the ballistic impact. This requirement is difficult to satisfy when traditional plain woven fabric is used. Cutting and sewing or folding is often used to tailor the fabric to fit the human’s torso, especially in the manufacturing of the bust area for female body armor. The bust area could be simplified as the dome shapes, geometrically modeled with the assistance of Rhinoceros software (McNeel, Seattle, USA), as shown in Figure 1. The anti-ballistic capabil- ity of female body armor could be enhanced if the bust area is formed by the three-dimensional dome- shaped fabric as a way to avoid the weak points induced by cutting and sewing. There are mainly four ways to produce the three-dimensional dome- shaped fabrics: molding, shape weaving, adding on the profile roller, and employing different woven structures. Molding Molding is the most common method to make the dome-shaped fabric. Molding is the process of manufac- turing by shaping liquid or pliable raw material using a rigid frame called a mold or matrix. This itself may have been made using a pattern or model of the final object. It is considered as an important alternative to tailoring, as it provides automation to the three-dimensional dome and other three-dimensional shapes while avoiding seams and stitches. 1 College of Textile Science and Engineering, Wuhan Textile University, P. R. China 2 Department of Textile Engineering, Usak University, Turkey 3 School of Materials, University of Manchester, UK Corresponding author: Xiaogang Chen, School of Materials, University of Manchester, Sackville Street, PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK. Email: xiaogang.chen@manchester.ac.uk Textile Research Journal 0(00) 1–12 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0040517517741157 journals.sagepub.com/home/trj